"Speculations and Gossip"

"Putin is orchestrating a purge to capitalize on the coup, which in my intelligence assessment was a false flag operation."

"He is continuing to advance the narrative that he is the one and only strong leader who is able to crush all the traitors, squash the mutiny and save Mother Russia — this is in preparation for his 2024 re-election run."

"He is consolidating power even further, ensuring he is only surrounded by loyalists."

"General Armageddon [Sirovikin] is arrested and Gen. Gerasimov, of the holders of Putin’s three nuclear footballs is missing — a threatening situation."

"Until Ukraine is crushed by Russia and Putin gets to keep Crimea and the provinces he has annexed, no one will sleep safely."

"This is what Putin wants the world to know."

Former U.S. defense intelligence officer Rebekah Koffler 

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov attend an expanded meeting of the Russian Defence Ministry Board at the National Defence Control Centre in Moscow, on Dec. 21, 2022. Gerasimov has not been seen in public since mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin called off his rebellion against Russia's military leadership. (MIKHAIL KIREYEV/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)

Now that Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is in exile following his brief, inchoate mutiny of last weekend, more sinister drama has entered the scene in Russua. Suddenly several top Russian generals are nowhere to be seen. These are not merely medalled generals, but the elite of the Russian Federation's military establishment. One of the missing, named General 'Armageddon' is known to have been a close contact/colleague of Prigozhin's. 

Reports have surfaced, as yet unconfirmed, that General Sergei Surovikin with his links to Prigozhin has been arrested. He is not alone. Another general was absent from a number of events that embattled Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu accompanied President Vladimir Putin to. The others, who should have been there, were mysteriously absent. Which has, of course, led to speculation some top military officers may be suspected of having colluded with Prigozhin.

Suspicion is enough in the opaque world of Kremlin politics to pass judgement. Those suspected of disloyalty may now be in line for a punishing conclusion to their elite careers in the Russian military. The mutinous Wagner procession that marched along highways leading from Rostov-on-Don to Moscow almost a week ago had gone unchallenged. Where was the Russian military under the command of trusted generals? No army battalion challenged the Wagner convoy, no air assaults on the convoy took place.

The unchallenged march toward Moscow was an event that Vladimir Putin called treason, and a "stab in the back". General Surovikin has not been seen since the rebellion advanced unchallenged, at a time when he posted a video urging that the unfolding event be stopped. And it was stopped, wasn't it, only he wasn't involved in halting it. The Moscow Times and the Financial Times, along with a Russian military blogger reported that Surovikin, commander of the Russian air force, has been arrested.

Former head of the Ekho Moskvy, a prominent independent radio station shuttered by authorities following the February 2022 'special military operation' invasion of Ukraine, claimed Surovikin and his lieutenants are known not to have been in contact with their families for several days. Rybar, another prominent military messaging channel operated by a former press officer with the Defence Ministry, reported that a purge in the ranks was underway. Authorities had examined allegations that some members of the elite military might have supported Prigozhin.

Should an event of the nature of a purge be underway, the military chain of command could be destabilized, trickling down to erode troop morale in this still-early stage of Ukraine's summer of 2023 counteroffensive. Conceivably, Kyiv could grasp an opportunity amidst the chaos in the Russian military chain of command to reclaim more of Ukraine's geography from the Russian occupying invader. 

Both Surovikin and Prigozhin had been involved in Russia's military aerial and ground action in Syria since 2015, dedicated to supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, aiding him in the reclamation of territory following Syria's civil war. Then there is the little detail that while Prigozhin unleashed his expletive-driven insults at Shoigu and chief of the General Staff General Valery Gerasimov before the mutiny of last week when he demanded their ouster, he continued to praise Surovikin.

The New York Times had earlier reported it was thought by U.S. officials that General Surovikin had advance knowledge of the Prigozhin-Wagner mutiny. When Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was questioned with respect to the report, he shrugged it off as "speculations and gossip". Refusing to comment on whether Surovikin had been arrested.

The top Russian military commander in Ukraine, Gen. Sergei Surovikin, left, and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. (AP)