Sergei Surovikin, the brutal Russian commander called General Armageddon, is the person charged with winning the Ukraine war by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin.
On August 21, 1991, shortly after midnight, a column of armoured personnel carriers led by soldiers from a section of Russia's famed Taman Guards, 2nd Guards Motor Rifle Division, rolled into a tunnel in the heart of Moscow, where it was met by demonstrators enraged by an attempted coup against Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
Three of the protesters were killed in the ensuing turmoil as they blocked the street with buses and street sweepers. The column finally retreated.
The conflict was a turning moment in the coup, which was overturned the following day.
Captain Sergei Surovikin, 24, a mid-ranking officer who was briefly detained for issuing orders but then released, was in charge of the unit.
Surovikin continued his long military career in Russia, where he received numerous promotions and developed...