Russia has war general ‘by the balls’ over mutiny ties

The top Russian military leader who is believed to have known in advance about the weekend’s mutiny has been arrested — and security services have him “by the balls,” according to a local report.

The Kremlin on Thursday again refused to discuss the whereabouts of Gen. Sergei Surovikin, 56, who has not been seen since the weekend revolt by his close ally, Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.

However, two sources close to Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed to the Moscow Times that the one-time military leader of the Ukraine war has been arrested, with one saying his situation is “not OK.”

“Apparently, he [Surovikin] chose Prigozhin’s side during the uprising, and they’ve gotten him by the balls,” one of the sources said.

The interrogation of the general — who remained a deputy commander of Russian forces in Ukraine — is so sensitive that defense department officials “are not even commenting on this information through our internal channels,” one of the sources told the Moscow paper.

Veteran Russian journalist Alexei Venediktov said that Surovikin “has not been in touch with his family for three days,” according to the Financial Times (FT). “His security guards do not answer either.”

Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin political consultant and former politician, also stated on Telegram that the brutal leader dubbed “General Armageddon” was being interrogated.

“And not only him. … A massive investigation has begun,” he wrote.

“Hundreds of investigators are certainly involved in it and thousands of people will be interrogated. Or maybe tens of thousands.

“Absolutely all generals and officers who had contact with Prigozhin and Wagner will be interrogated. And everyone who served in Wagner,” she said.

It is being “conducted by the ( Federal Security Service) FSB, the Investigative Committee and the Military Prosecutor’s Office,” he said.

“The main task of the investigation is still not to identify who should be punished, but to identify what systemic mistakes were made” to help prevent a future “revolt,” he wrote.

“Surovikin must have been interrogated for many hours for many days. Not because he’s the prime suspect, but because he’s the prime informant” as Wagener’s key handler, Markov stated.

The arrest was part of warmongering President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to start “now cleaning house” after the mutiny he admitted came close to a “civil war,” one western government official told the FT.

Even the EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, told the bloc’s summit on Thursday that “some generals have been arrested,” the FT report noted.

“So I suppose that Putin will be in a cleaning mode, internally. And a more assertive mood, Borrell said.

Despite mounting evidence, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he “unfortunately” could not clarify what had happened to Surovikin.

“I recommend that you contact the defense ministry,” he told reporters — with that department refusing to discuss it, too.

Still, Surovikin’s daughter Veronika dismissed all the fuss, according to the FT, saying that “everything is fine” with her dad.

“Honestly, no, nothing has happened to him, he’s at work,” she told Russian news outlet Baza, saying that her dad was never one to “appear in the media every day.”

“As I understand, everything is sort of flowing as things normally happen,” she reportedly said. “Everyone is at their workplace, everything is fine.”

With Post wires