Documents shared exclusively with CNN suggest that Russian Gen. Sergey Surovikin was a secret VIP member of the Wagner private military company.
The documents, obtained by the Russian investigative Dossier Center, showed that Surovikin had a personal registration number with Wagner.
Surovikin is listed along with at least 30 other senior Russian military and intelligence officials, who the Dossier Center said are also VIP Wagner members.
Surovikin has not been seen in public since last Saturday, when he released a video pleading for Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin to stop his insurrection. His whereabouts have since remained unknown.
Surovikin is a decorated commander of the Russian Air Force and became nicknamed "General Armageddon" for his ruthless tactics bombing cities in Syria.
Wagner has not answered CNN's request for a response.
It is unclear what Wagner's VIP membership entails, including whether there is a financial benefit.
Surovikin was known to have links with the mercenary group, but the documents raise questions about the closeness of senior members of the Russian military and Wagner.
During Prigozhin's short-lived rebellion, Wagner fighters were able to take over the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, facing virtually no resistance from the Russian army.
