VLADIMIR Putin’s “General Armageddon” has reportedly been arrested amid claims he was in on the Wagner Group’s armed revolt.

General Sergey Surovikin – renowned for his merciless manoeuvres – has known links to Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner mercenary army chief behind Saturday’s rebellion.

US officials said Surovikin had advance knowledge of the warlord’s plans to rebel against Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and chief of the armed forces General Valery Gerasimov over the dismal war in Ukraine, the New York Times reports.

The Moscow Times later reported that sources within the Defence Department had said that Surovikin had been taken into custody.

One source told them: “Apparently he [Surovikin] chose the side [of Prigozhin during the rebellion] and they grabbed him by the balls.”

The department has not officially commented, with the source adding that details are not even being discussed internally.

Intelligence officials are said to be probing whether the former top Russian commander “helped plan Prigozhin’s actions last weekend” which left Russia on the brink of civil war.

American officials said there were signs that other Russian generals may have also supported the Wagner boss.

Rumours are swirling that Surovikin, 56, could be under interrogation over his knowledge of the plot to oust Russia‘s top military leaders.

The Pro-war Rybar Telegram channel said Surovikin – a commander known for his ruthlessness and brutality – has not been seen since Saturday.

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The military-linked channel said: “The whereabouts of ‘General Armageddon’ is not known for certain.

“There is a version that he is under interrogation.”

Before vanishing, Surovikin issued a call to Wagner fighters to give up and return to bases “before it is too late”.

He revealed he had been ordered back to Moscow from the frontline as Prigozhin launched his so-called “march for justice” on the capital.

He said: “We cannot play into the enemy’s hands during this hard time for our country.

“Before it is not too late, it is necessary to obey the order of the popularly-elected president of the Russian Federation.”

It’s claimed he has not been seen since recording the message.

Responding to the claims that Surovikin was in on the mutiny, the Kremlin said there would be “a lot of speculation” in the aftermath of the events.

“There will now be a lot of speculation, gossip and so on around these events. I think this is one such example,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

In October last year, Surovikin took the reigns of the faltering Russian invasion – but was stripped of the responsibility by Putin in January.

Just one month later, it was claimed that Surovikin and Prigozhin were plotting a coup against Putin.

Details of the coup were leaked to Russian human rights activist Vladimir Osechkin – who said the initial plotting began back in September.

He claimed Prigozhin would use the army of convicts he’s recruited to achieve a breakthrough in the war to bolster his own power.

It comes as junior ranks in the Russian military are reportedly already being purged of those who showed support for Prigozhin’s uprising against Putin’s commanders.

Western officials believe this is “chapter one” of a new era for Russia – with potentially Stalin-style purges to come as Putin tries to shore up his weakened rule.

Zelensky’s closest adviser, Andriy Yermak, said the “countdown has started” for the end of Putin’s time in power.

Another senior Ukrainian official told the BBC that the “Putin regime cannot be saved”.

Chaos exploded on Russia’s southern borders late on Friday when Wagner troops seized control of Rostov-on-Don in a bloodless takeover.

Wagner fighters loyal to the leader of their private military company, Prigozhin, came within 124 miles of Moscow before he called them off.

Though Saturday, they stormed up the M4 highway, taking control of military facilities in the Rostov and Voronezh regions as they closed in on the capital.

Anticipating urban warfare, Russia responded by placing cement mixers on roads in Moscow and set up defensive lines across major bridges leading to the capital.

Mercenaries from the private military company were just 120 miles outside Moscow when they downed weapons and returned to “bases” following orders late on Saturday.

Prighozin blamed an alleged Russian airstrike on Wagner troops in Ukraine for his decision to mount a mutiny.

In his first public comments since turning tail, he taunted Russian forces.

The Wagner boss said his guns-for-hire soldiers covered more ground than Putin’s invaders had managed in Ukraine — and said his mutiny was a “masterclass” in how to launch an invasion and seize Ukraine in just one day.

Prigozhin is now understood to have landed in Belarus as Russia reels from the warlord’s 24-hour mutiny.