Russian servicemen still dying in Syria

The recent decision to withdraw the bulk of Russia’s forces from Syria notwithstanding, another Russian serviceman, the sixth, has been killed in military operations there, according to a spokesman for the Russian base in Khmeimim.

"An officer from the Russian Special Forces died in the vicinity of the Tadmor settlement (Palmyra, Homs Province) while on special assignment guiding the strikes of Russian planes onto ISIS targets,” RIA Novosti cites the spokesman as saying on March 24.

“The officer was carrying out a combat assignment in the neighbourhood of Palmyra for a week, identifying important ISIS sites and giving precise coordinates for the Russian planes to launch their strikes," the spokesman said, adding that the serviceman died a “hero's death,” having attracted enemy fire after having been discovered by “terrorists.”

Colonel General Alexander Dvornikov, the Commander of the Russian contingent in Syria,  disclosed on March 23 that the Russian special forces were still operating on Syrian territory, conducting reconnaissance missions for aviation strikes and guiding airplanes.

Subject to enormous danger

Retired colonel Vladimir Anokhin, vice president of the Academy of Geopolitical Issues, who has conducted combat missions in Syria during the Soviet era, explained why servicemen assisting the air force to identify targets are in a vulnerable position.

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"Such an officer is present in the combat formations of the attacking forces and directly adjusts the aviation's aim onto the targets that must be destroyed,” Anokhin told the Vzglyad newspaper. “This all takes place very close to the contact line between the sides, which is why the officer is subject to enormous danger," he said. 

Alexander Perendzhiyev, a specialist from the Association of Military Political Scientists and a retired lieutenant colonel explained that ‘scouts’ "penetrate enemy territory and from there give our servicemen the coordinates of the targets for artillery fire or aerial bombing. This is always a very dangerous profession. The risks are very high and the people who do this work realize that they may lose their lives at any moment if their position is discovered," he said.

Battles for Palmyra

The Russian officer from the special forces died in the vicinity of the ancient city of Palmyra, where intense battles with ISIS militants have been raging for the last several days, and the army of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has gradually regained control of the city that it lost last summer, driving out the terrorist forces.

Soldiers from the Syrian government forces and the Desert Falcons militias stormed the Palmyra citadel on the morning of March 25, reported RIA Novosti.

ISIS militias have dug in at the top near the mobile communications tower, 600 metres from the fortress, and advancing Syrian army units entered the citadel from various sides, under the protection of mortar fire. Aviation and heavy artillery have not been used, in order not to damage the World Heritage Sites nearby, reported RIA Novosti.

First published in Russian in Vzglyad.

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