DESPERATE Vladimir Putin has recalled the brutal warlord, dubbed General Armageddon, after years in exile over a brutal Wagner coup.
After years banished in Africa, fears are growing that the bloodthirsty Sergei Surovikin, 59, will be deployed back to the war in in a last-ditch effort by the Kremlin.
Surovikin, seen as a daring military tactician and one of Russia’s cruellest commanders, famously endorsed using early on in the conflict.
He is now reportedly back in Moscow as Russian military commentator Colonel Viktor Baranets confirmed Surovikin’s move, saying: “Generals like this don’t lie around on the sofa.
“ and its army need such generals.
“In the Kremlin and the Defence Ministry they are seriously racking their brains over how to fit Surovikin – a tough, decisive and powerful military commander – into the realities currently taking shape on the battlefield,”
The ruthless returnee once from October 2022 until Putin pulled the plug on him in January 2023.
He lost Putin’s trust amid Kremlin fears he wasthat summer.
Prigozhin was later killed in a suspicious plane crash that many believe was an assassination order from the despot.
Surovikin, notorious for his brutality in wars in Syria and Chechnya, was punished by being sent into exile to oversee Putin’s military operations in north Africa.
With the prodigal commander back from exile, one theory suggests General Armageddon will spearhead operations to seize the Ukrainian stronghold cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, where Russian forces continue to lose ground.
Other speculation is that he could spearhead a new offensive on Kyiv through to occupied Chernihiv.
The decision to bring in the brutish ringer comes as stark new figures show how in Ukraine in his new “no rules” of war strategy.
The despot aims to
The UN Office said an average of more than 400 civilians were killed or wounded every week in Ukraine during the first eight months of 2026.
This is a 55 per cent increase from the same period in 2025.
A total of 15,280 civilians were killed or injured during the first eight months of the year, said the UN report.
The swirling speculation over Surovikin came as Putin lost two war planes – a Su-35S and a Su-34 worth a combined total of £112 million – in a Ukrainian drone strike on Khanskaya air base in Adygea region.
Russian drones hit of Chornomorsk.
This followed a successful Ukrainian hit on Europe’s largest oil tank farm in Samara region, which has cost Putin at least £151 million in burning fuel.
Meanwhile, in a show of strength to the West, Russia conducted naval anti-submarine drills in the Barents Sea against mock forces.
“The formation’s ships operated as part of a naval search-and-strike group, practicing the search for and destruction of a simulated enemy submarine in coordination with Northern Fleet submarines and anti-submarine aircraft,” said a statement.
“Air defence tasks, including a series of anti-aircraft live-fire engagements, were also practiced during the exercise.”
The war-games involved large anti-submarine ships Severomorsk and Vice-Admiral Kulakov.
