by Al Jazeera News Staff at Al Jazeera
Russian General Sergei Surovikin, who at one time was commander of Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, has been dismissed as head of the country’s aerospace forces, a prominent journalist in Russia and media outlets have reported.
Alexei Venediktov, the well-connected former editor-in-chief of the now-defunct Ekho Moskvy (Echo of Moscow) radio station, said on his Telegram channel on Tuesday that Surovikin had been removed, citing an official decree. Surovikin will remain in the defence ministry after his deposition, Venediktov said.
The decree has not yet been made public but several nationalist Russian military blogs also reported on Surovikin’s replacement.
Surovikin was commander-in-chief of Russian units in Ukraine from October 2022 to January 2023. He was the commander who ordered the withdrawal of Russian troops from the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson in November 2022…