[3][4] From 2017 to August 2023, Surovikin was the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces from 2017 until he was reportedly sacked by Vladimir Putin for an alleged involvement with the Wagner Group rebellion.

[6] During the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, Surovikin commanded a unit that killed three anti-coup demonstrators, for which he was detained for several months but never convicted.

He is accredited with turning the tide of the war in Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's favour, and is also alleged to have been responsible for strikes on civilian targets during the Russian intervention.

During the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt in Moscow, Surovikin was ordered to send his battalion into the tunnel on the Garden Ring, where three anti-coup demonstrators were killed.

The conviction was overturned after the investigation concluded that Surovikin had agreed to give a fellow student a pistol for use in a competition, unaware of its intended purpose.

[18] In March 2004, Surovikin was accused by Lieutenant Colonel Viktor Tsibizov of beating him up for leaving his post to participate in elections as an observer.

[23] From June 2004, he led the 42nd Guards Motor Rifle Division, permanently stationed in Chechnya to suppress the insurgency during the Second Chechen War.

[27] Investigation by independent news organization Novaya Gazeta revealed that the deaths were caused by the accidental discharge of a grenade launcher by drunk soldiers.

[28][29] In an April interview with army newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda, Surovikin complained that rules of engagement, especially the requirement to detain suspected militants instead of shooting them, hindered counter-insurgency operations, and that Chechen fighters were exploiting Russian soldiers' hesitation to fire on insurgents near civilians.

[42][8] According to a report published by RBK Group on 2 November 2017 that cited an anonymous source in the MoD, Surovikin had been appointed Commander of the Aerospace Forces, despite his initial objections.

Altogether he commanded the Russian forces group in Syria for more than a year, which was longer than any other officer[51] until November 2020, when Lieutenant General Aleksandr Chaiko surpassed his duration in that post.

[54] He said in an interview with Russian media that "Our opponent is a criminal regime, while we and the Ukrainians are one people and want the same thing: for Ukraine to be a country that’s friendly to Russia and independent from the West".

[62] On 8 October, it was announced that Surovikin would be commanding all Russian forces in Ukraine, succeeding Colonel General Gennady Zhidko.

[11] It came to light on 10 October according to sources close to the Kremlin, that Surovikin is a proponent of large-scale attacks by drone and missile on civilian and critical infrastructure,[9] an instance of which occurred that day.

[63] On 13 October Surovikin was profiled in Le Monde as a "ruthless Russian general",[64] while two days later CNN reported that he was hated by some of his subordinates.

[69] By 22 October, Fortune was headlining the campaign by "Russia launches ‘massive attack’ on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure after failures on battlefield", after 1.5 million people were left with no electric utility.

[72] By 21 November 2022 some Russian people were asking Surovikin "to step up Moscow's bombing campaign of Ukrainian energy infrastructure, a tactic the Kremlin has suggested is designed to bring Ukraine to the negotiating table."

[75] According to CNN, documentary evidence listed Surovikin as an official member of Wagner, with VIP status in 2018, along with 30 other senior Russian military staff.

[14][76] On 24 June 2023, during the Wagner Group rebellion against the Russian government, Surovikin appeared on video posted to Telegram appealing to the rebel forces to stop the revolt.

[13] Surovikin's daughter, in an alleged interview to a Russian Telegram channel, claimed to be in contact with her father and insisted that he had not been detained.