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Moscow denies reports that General Surovikin is in Lefortovo pre-trial detention center

Army General is not in Lefortovo or any other pre-trial detention center, the secretary of the Public Monitoring Committee Alexey Melnikov said

MOSCOW, June 29. /TASS/. Army General Sergey Surovikin is neither in Moscow's Lefortovo pre-trial detention center nor in any other temporary detention facilities, Alexey Melnikov, the secretary of the Public Monitoring Committee, told reporters.

"Representatives of a large number of Russian and foreign media have been calling me quite often in recent days. They ask: ‘Is it true that Surovikin is in pre-trial detention?’ I answer: he is not in Lefortovo or any other pre-trial detention center," the official said on Thursday.

Information about Surovikin's arrest appeared on various Telegram channels on Wednesday. They claimed that the general had been placed in the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center. Later, the Financial Times quoted its sources as saying that he had been detained.

Surovikin is the commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces and the Deputy Commander of Russia’s Joint Group of Forces in Ukraine.

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