Gen. Sergei Surovikin, a former commander of Russia's forces in Ukraine who was linked to the leader of a brief armed rebellion, has been dismissed as chief of the air force, Russian state media reported Wednesday after weeks of uncertainty about his fate.

Surovikin has not been seen in public since June 23-24, when Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group, sent his men to march toward Moscow.

In a video released during the uprising, Surovikin — who was believed to have close ties to Prigozhin — had urged him to pull the mercenaries back.

The Wagner uprising posed the most serious challenge to President Vladimir Putin's 23-year rule and reports circulated that Surovikin had known about it in advance. Prigozhin called off the rebellion short of reaching Moscow after he said he wanted to avoid bloodshed.

Surovikin's absence has been one of several enduring mysteries surrounding the rebellion. During his absence, Russian media have speculated about Surovikin's whereabouts, with some claiming he had been detained, but his daughter told the Russian social media channel Baza in late June that her father had not been arrested.

Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, citing an anonymous source, reported that Surovikin has been replaced as commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces by Col.

Gen. Viktor Afzalov, who heads the main staff of the air force.

The agency frequently represents the official position of the Kremlin through reports citing anonymous officials in Russia's defense and security establishment.

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