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Russia Names New Air Force Chief After Mutiny-Related Disappearance of ‘General Armageddon’ 

This pool photo distributed by Sputnik agency taken on December 31, 2022, shows Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shaking hands with commander of Russia's military operation in Ukraine General Sergei Surovikin (L), awarded with order of Saint George of the Third Class, during visit to the headquarters of the Southern Military District, at an unknown location in Russia. (AFP)
This pool photo distributed by Sputnik agency taken on December 31, 2022, shows Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shaking hands with commander of Russia's military operation in Ukraine General Sergei Surovikin (L), awarded with order of Saint George of the Third Class, during visit to the headquarters of the Southern Military District, at an unknown location in Russia. (AFP)
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Russia Names New Air Force Chief After Mutiny-Related Disappearance of ‘General Armageddon’ 

This pool photo distributed by Sputnik agency taken on December 31, 2022, shows Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shaking hands with commander of Russia's military operation in Ukraine General Sergei Surovikin (L), awarded with order of Saint George of the Third Class, during visit to the headquarters of the Southern Military District, at an unknown location in Russia. (AFP)
This pool photo distributed by Sputnik agency taken on December 31, 2022, shows Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shaking hands with commander of Russia's military operation in Ukraine General Sergei Surovikin (L), awarded with order of Saint George of the Third Class, during visit to the headquarters of the Southern Military District, at an unknown location in Russia. (AFP)

Russia has appointed a new acting head of its aerospace forces to replace Sergei Surovikin, nicknamed "General Armageddon", who vanished from view after a Wagner mercenary mutiny against the top brass, the RIA state news agency reported on Wednesday.

During the June 23-24 revolt, Surovikin, who once commanded Russia's overall war effort in Ukraine, appeared in a video, looking strained and without insignia, urging Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin to abandon his march on Moscow.

Since the mutiny, which was ended by negotiations and a deal, some Russian and foreign news outlets have said that Surovikin, who was often publicly praised by Prigozhin in the run-up to the revolt, was being investigated for possible complicity in it and being held under house arrest.

His reported removal suggests the authorities found fault with his behavior, but the details of his alleged wrongdoing remain unknown.

Russian news outlet RBC and Rybar, a Telegram channel close to the Ministry of Defense, on Tuesday reported that Surovikin had been removed from his position as the head of Russia's air force.

On Wednesday, RIA cited an unnamed source as saying: "Ex-chief of the Russian Air and Space Forces Sergei Surovikin has now been relieved of his post, while Colonel-General Viktor Afzalov, head of the Main Staff of the Air Force, is temporarily acting as commander-in-chief of the Air Force."

Reuters could not independently verify the report and there was no official confirmation.

Surovikin earned the nickname "General Armageddon" during Russia's military intervention in Syria for the brutal tactics he employed there.

He was placed in charge of Russian military operations in Ukraine last October, but in January that role was handed to General Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the general staff, and Surovikin was made a deputy to Gerasimov.

Afzalov was previously deputy to Surovikin and has been chief of staff of the Aerospace Forces for at least four years, according to British military intelligence.

During Surovikin's absence from public view, Afzalov was shown on television briefing Gerasimov last month.

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World

Iran Urges Wounded Protesters to Seek Hospital Care as Arrest Reports Spark Alarm

People walk on a sidewalk at the Enqelab-e-Eslami street in downtown Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP)
People walk on a sidewalk at the Enqelab-e-Eslami street in downtown Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP)
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Iran Urges Wounded Protesters to Seek Hospital Care as Arrest Reports Spark Alarm

People walk on a sidewalk at the Enqelab-e-Eslami street in downtown Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP)
People walk on a sidewalk at the Enqelab-e-Eslami street in downtown Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP)

Iran's health ministry on Monday urged those injured in recent protests to go to hospital, after rights groups reported that security forces have been detaining demonstrators wounded in a violent crackdown.

Protests broke out in late December over economic grievances, but turned into a mass movement against the country , with huge street demonstrations for several days from January 8.

Rights groups have accused authorities of killing thousands in an unprecedented crackdown under the cover of an ongoing internet shutdown, while Iranian authorities say the violence was caused by "rioters" spurred by the United States and Israel.

"Our advice to the public is that if they suffer any kind of injury, they should not try to treat it at home, and they should not worry about going to medical centers," the health ministry said in a statement carried by state television.

Rights groups have accused Iranian security forces of firing rifles and shotguns loaded with metal pellets directly at protesters' heads and torsos during the crackdown and then raiding medical centers and homes to identify protesters from their wounds and arrest them.

"Some wounded individuals were detained before receiving medical treatment, others during treatment, and some immediately after discharge, and were transferred to unknown locations," the US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said in a Friday report.

Amnesty International last week reported a young man, Amirhossein Ghaderzadeh, was arrested after security forces raided his home and stripped him and his sisters -- one of them a minor -- naked to search for injuries related to the protests.

The 19-year-old was arrested after he was found to have pellet wounds, according to sources speaking to Amnesty.

The General Directorate of Prisons of Tehran Province denied on Monday that injured "rioters" were being taken to prison instead of medical centers, the judiciary's Mizan website said.

Iranians speaking to AFP outside the country said protesters who were injured were often too afraid to go to hospital because police were there and that doctors had been treating people at their homes.

An image shared on social media but not immediately verifiable by AFP shows three women in a home working with the help of a cellphone flashlight to remove almost two dozen pellets from a prone woman's back.

On Sunday, Reza Pahlavi, the son of the ousted shah who had called for people to take to the streets, echoed the reports of security personnel "embedded" in hospitals to arrest protesters.

He called on Iranians to "document the names of those who obstruct the treatment of the wounded" so that "at the appropriate time, their crimes and acts of betrayal may be addressed".

World

Italy Summons Israeli Ambassador After Police Held at Gunpoint in West Bank

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media near the "Le Constellation" bar, after a fire and explosion during a New Year's Eve party where several people died and others were injured, according to Swiss police, in the upscale ski resort of Crans-Montana in southwestern Switzerland, January 2, 2026. (Reuters)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media near the "Le Constellation" bar, after a fire and explosion during a New Year's Eve party where several people died and others were injured, according to Swiss police, in the upscale ski resort of Crans-Montana in southwestern Switzerland, January 2, 2026. (Reuters)
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Italy Summons Israeli Ambassador After Police Held at Gunpoint in West Bank

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media near the "Le Constellation" bar, after a fire and explosion during a New Year's Eve party where several people died and others were injured, according to Swiss police, in the upscale ski resort of Crans-Montana in southwestern Switzerland, January 2, 2026. (Reuters)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media near the "Le Constellation" bar, after a fire and explosion during a New Year's Eve party where several people died and others were injured, according to Swiss police, in the upscale ski resort of Crans-Montana in southwestern Switzerland, January 2, 2026. (Reuters)

Italy on Monday summoned Israel's ambassador to protest after two Italian policemen were threatened at gunpoint by an Israeli during a field visit in the occupied West Bank, the foreign ministry said. 

The two military policemen were stopped on Sunday by an armed ‌Israeli while they ‌were carrying ‌out ⁠a site ‌inspection ahead of a planned visit by EU ambassadors to a village near Ramallah. 

According to a government source, the Israeli, believed to have been a settler, forced the ⁠two men to kneel at gunpoint ‌and subjected them to ‍an improvised ‍interrogation. 

The soldiers were travelling in ‍a vehicle with diplomatic license plates and carrying diplomatic passports. 

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani wanted the Israeli ambassador in Rome to receive a "strong protest" over the incident, the ⁠foreign ministry said in a statement. 

Italy's embassy to Israel has already submitted a formal protest to the Israeli government, contacting the foreign ministry, the Israeli military, the police and the Shin Bet domestic security agency. 

The two policemen returned unharmed to Italy's Consulate General ‌in Jerusalem following the incident. 

World

Italy Declares State of Emergency After Storms in Southern Regions

Areas affected by bad weather are seen along the seafront in Santa Teresa di Riva, Sicily, Italy, 21 January 2026. (EPA)
Areas affected by bad weather are seen along the seafront in Santa Teresa di Riva, Sicily, Italy, 21 January 2026. (EPA)
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Italy Declares State of Emergency After Storms in Southern Regions

Areas affected by bad weather are seen along the seafront in Santa Teresa di Riva, Sicily, Italy, 21 January 2026. (EPA)
Areas affected by bad weather are seen along the seafront in Santa Teresa di Riva, Sicily, Italy, 21 January 2026. (EPA)

Italy's government on Monday declared a state of emergency for southern regions battered by a violent storm last week, pledging swift financial aid to rebuild roads and businesses hit by the severe weather.

Relentless rain, powerful winds and waves as high as nine meters (30 ft) battered Sicily, Sardinia and Calabria for two days, pushing water inland and overwhelming coastal defenses.

Authorities have estimated that the damage ran to more than 1 billion euros ($1.19 billion) but despite the scale of the destruction, officials reported no casualties.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's ‌government set aside ‌an initial 100 million euros to address ‌the ⁠initial needs ‌of the hardest-hit areas, Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci said in a statement.

"In the coming days, the government will adopt a new interministerial measure to allow the restoration and reconstruction of the damaged infrastructure," Musumeci said.

Sicily alone suffered around 740 million euros worth of damage, the regional government said last week, but the island's governor, Renato ⁠Schifani, warned on Monday that the final amount could be double that.

The sea ‌flooded streets in popular hotspots near ‍Taormina, wrecking infrastructure such as wastewater ‍treatment facilities, and raising concerns over the forthcoming tourist season. ‍In Catania, a section of sidewalk collapsed on the seafront.

Land subsidence, probably triggered by the bad weather, is now threatening the town of Niscemi, in central Sicily, and around 1,000 people have had to be evacuated from their homes, the civil protection said in a statement.

Sardinia was also badly hit. Beniamino Garau, ⁠the mayor of Capoterra in the south of the island, said the sea had pushed about 100 meters inland.

In Calabria, the regional administration said the storm caused "major damage to agricultural business...with serious repercussions for the rural economy" in one of Italy's least developed areas.

Extreme weather events have become more frequent in Italy in recent years. Floods have devastated cities across the country, killing dozens of people and amplifying risks of landslides and floods also in historically less exposed areas.

However, locals said regional civil protection alerts issued ahead of ‌the storm had persuaded people to stay at home, preventing any deaths or serious injuries.