What does the removal of Prigozhin and Surovikin mean for the war in Ukraine?
by Dan Sabbagh in Kyiv from World news | The Guardian on (#6E4H8)
Putin may have shored up unity, which helps the war effort, but watching his back for pro-Wagner traitors may be a distraction
Yevgeny Prigozhin apparently getting killed on the same day it emerged that Gen Sergei Surovikin had been relieved of his command of Russia's air force means the two most effective leaders in the first phase of the Ukraine war are now both gone, their removal a victory of sorts for the old guard at the Kremlin.
The Wagner group, headed by Prigozhin, led the capture of Bakhmut, Russia's only battlefield gain so far this year, while it was his ally Surovikin, in his short period of overall command in Ukraine, who began building the defensive fortifications that are seen as so important to the invader's position today.
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