Military losses in Syria. How many people has Russia lost since the start of the military operation in Syria?

On March 6, an An-26 cargo plane crashed at the Khmeimim airfield in Syria while landing. All on board perished. 39 people, including 27 officers. The Ministry of Defense cited a technical malfunction as a preliminary reason. The department stressed that the plane was not shot down. At the same time, members of the Syrian group "Jaysh al-Islam" stated that the fall of the An-26 aircraft was the result of an attack.

Directly killed during a plane crash in Syria, the military is not called the victims of a military operation. But together with such “accidental” dead, the number goes to hundreds… the site analyzed official and unofficial reports about the death of Russians. How many people paid with their lives in the name of fighting terrorists - in one clear infographic.

Officially, the participation of the Russian Armed Forces in hostilities on the side of the Syrian government began at the end of September 2015, and ended in December 2017. Despite the fact that most of the soldiers have already left the Middle Eastern country, the Russians continue to die.

According to official data from the Russian Ministry of Defense, since September 30, 2015, as a result of hostilities in Syria, 44 military personnel. In addition, one non-combat loss was recorded - in October 2015, the agency officially confirmed the death of contract serviceman Vadim Kostenko, who committed suicide at the Khmeimim airbase.

Roman Filipov, pilot of the Russian Su-25 attack aircraft, was the last to die directly during the hostilities. His plane was hit by a man-portable air defense system. Filipov, who managed to eject, was eventually forced to blow himself up with a grenade so as not to be captured by the militants.

At the same time, Reuters reported that only in 2017 in Syria 131 Russians died- they are all mercenaries. At the same time, the Russian Defense Ministry denies that private military units are operating in Syria.

In February, during an air strike by the US coalition in Syria, according to various sources, from several dozen to several hundred Russians were killed. Among them are volunteers from the Urals, who previously fought in the Donbass. In an interview with Znak.com, the ataman of the village of Svyato-Nikolaevskaya in Asbest (two volunteers who died during the airstrike were from this Ural city) Oleg Surin stated that they died only during the American air raid 217 Russians. Bloomberg and The New York Times reported on 200 victims among the volunteers. The Department of Defense stated that none of the citizens of the Russian Federation died.

The Russian Foreign Ministry clarified that Russians and citizens of the CIS were killed in the airstrike, but they were not military personnel.

From the official statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation:

Yet two people- Roman Zabolotny and Grigory Tsurkanov - were captured by militants of the Islamic State organization banned in Russia in Syria in October 2017.

Not only the plane crash involving the An-26 can be attributed to the victims of the military operation. In December 2016 in Sochi, who was heading to Syria. On board were 92 people- including artists of the Alexandrov Song and Dance Ensemble, journalists, Executive Director of the Fair Help Foundation Elizaveta Glinka.

For obvious reasons, no one can give exact figures yet. According to the official version, 45 military personnel died in Syria in two years, according to the unofficial version, hundreds of those who left to fight without the knowledge of the Ministry of Defense.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation summed up the results of a three-year operation in Syria. According to the military, more than 86 thousand militants were killed during this time, including 4.5 thousand people from Russia and the CIS countries. As a result of air strikes and cruise missiles, almost 121.5 thousand terrorist objects, about 650 tanks and about 730 infantry fighting vehicles, almost 9 thousand vehicles equipped with anti-aircraft guns were destroyed.

More than 63,000 Russian servicemen, including 26,000 officers and 434 generals, received combat experience in Syria. The military checked 231 weapons.

Died in the Middle East during this time, according to the Ministry of Defense, 112 soldiers.

Who was remembered in the Ministry of Defense

The military operation in Syria began three years ago - on September 30, 2015. In December 2017, Vladimir Putin announced that the Russian servicemen from the Russian Federation who took part in the operation had left the country.

However, reports of the death of our compatriots in the Middle East are received regularly. Last thing - September 17, 2018: shot down our Il-20. . Among them - a resident of the Sverdlovsk region.

Another plane crash that killed 39 Russian military, also happened after the official statement by Vladimir Putin on the withdrawal of Russian troops from Syria.

March 6, 2018 while landing at the Khmeimim airfield, an An-26 transport aircraft crashed. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the cause of the fall was a technical malfunction.

According to the military, these two plane crashes account for most of the losses of the Russian army in Syria.

Viktor Bondarev, former Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces:

At the moment, the losses of our Armed Forces in Syria amount to 112 people, almost half of which are accounted for by the An-26 crash and the downed Il-20. Of the equipment, 8 aircraft, 7 helicopters and, possibly, 1-2 armored personnel carriers and an armored car were lost.

site compiled chronicle of official losses Russian army in Syria.

Contract soldier Vadim Kostenko can be attributed to the first victim of the war in Syria. However, he did not die in battle: the official version of the Ministry of Defense is October 24, 2015 contract soldier committed suicide at the Khmeimim air base due to a discord "in a personal relationship with a girl." But Kostenko's relatives do not believe in this version.

The very first combat death in Syria was initially hidden from the public: November 19, 2015 during a special operation in the Middle East the 27-year-old captain died Fedor Zhuravlev from the Bryansk region. The soldier's relatives were first told that Zhuravlev had died in Kabardino-Balkaria. However, later they officially confirmed the fact of the death of the captain in Syria, posthumously he was awarded the Order of Kutuzov.

One of the first reports of death in Syria appeared November 24, 2015: The Turkish Air Force shot down a Russian Su-24. perished one man bomber pilot Oleg Peshkov. Connected with the aircraft another death: a Russian helicopter flew out to search for the downed SU-24, it was attacked from the ground, as a result, Marine Alexander Pozynich was killed. According to the Turkish military, the SU-24 was shot down because it allegedly violated the country's airspace. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation did not agree with this, saying that the bomber was flying over the territory of Syria. This was confirmed by the surviving navigator Konstantin Murakhtin.

December 5, 2015 shells hit one of the mobile hospitals in Aleppo. perished two military nurses- Nadezhda Durachenko and Galina Mikhailova.

December 7, 2015 The Ministry of Defense announced the death of Colonel Ruslan Galitsky- He was a military adviser in Syria. Ruslan was wounded during the shelling of Aleppo, from which he later died in the hospital.

February 1, 2016 of the year as a result of a mortar attack by ISIS terrorists on one of the units of the Syrian army Russian military adviser mortally wounded Lieutenant Colonel Ivan Cheremisin.

In the spring in Syria died two pilots: Russian helicopter Mi-8 crashed April 12, 2016 in the Homs region. According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, "there was no fire impact on the helicopter."

June 15, 2016 in Homs province Marine killed Andrey Timoshenkov. According to the Ministry of Defense, the serviceman "prevented a car filled with explosives from breaking through to the place where humanitarian aid was given to the civilian population."

Another Mi-8 was shot down from the ground: August 1, 2016 A Russian helicopter came under fire while returning to the Khmeimim air base after delivering humanitarian aid to the city of Aleppo. perished five persons: three crew members and two officers of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties in Syria.

July 8, 2016 shot down another helicopter - this time the Mi-35M (originally it was reported that the Mi-25). perished two pilots- Ryafagat Khabibullin and Evgeny Dolgin.

July 22, 2016 in Syria 23-year-old contractor died Nikita Shevchenko: according to the Ministry of Defense, he accompanied a humanitarian cargo. Posthumously, Nikita was presented for a state award.

February 16, 2017, according to the official statement of the Ministry of Defense, in Syria, an armored vehicle "Tiger" was blown up on a radio-controlled landmine - four died and two Russian soldiers were wounded.

Also included in official losses two deaths, resulting from the crash of the Su-24 at the Khmeimim base. October 10, 2017 while accelerating for takeoff, the bomber skidded off the runway. Pilot Yuri Medvedkov and navigator Yuri Kopylov were killed.

A technical malfunction caused another crash: December 31, 2017 Mi-24 helicopter crashed 15 kilometers from the Hama airfield. Both pilots aircraft were killed.

February 3, 2018 pilot died attack aircraft Su-25 Roman Filipov. The plane was shot down from the ground, the pilot ejected, but got into the territory controlled by the militants and was eventually forced to blow himself up with a grenade so as not to be captured.

May 3, 2018 Su-30SM fighter jet crashed in the Mediterranean off the coast of Latakia. Those on board two pilots were killed. As commented in the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the plane was not shot down - perhaps the cause of the crash was a bird that flew into the engine.

As a result of a technical malfunction, died and two pilots helicopter Ka-52V, which collapsed on May 7, 2018.

Unofficial losses among the military exceeded 500 people

The Ministry of Defense does not report on how many more military personnel from Russia are in Syria. As well as about the number of dead from Russia who fought in this country against the militants, but not as part of the regular units of the Russian army. First of all, we are talking about Wagner's private army.

Reuters reported that only in 2017 he died in Syria 131 Russians- they are all mercenaries.

Western media wrote about a large number of dead Russians in February 2018 - the US coalition launched an airstrike on Syrian positions, during which, according to various sources, several dozen Russians were killed, including two volunteers from Asbest. In an interview with Znak.com, a former colleague of the dead Ural residents said that the air raid led to the death of 217 Russians.

Bloomberg and The New York Times reported on 200 volunteer casualties.

At the same time, the former Minister of Defense of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Igor Girkin (Strelkov), announced the mass death of the Russian military. He claimed, citing his sources, that "several hundred" Russians were killed during the airstrikes.

The Russian Defense Ministry denies that private military units are operating in Syria. “If there are some Russian citizens in Syria in the form of volunteers and so on, this is not through the state and has nothing to do with the Ministry of Defense,” Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, commented on the information to Reuters.

However, the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed that the Russian military outside the regular units are on the side of the Syrian army. Maria Zakharova, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, issued a statement on February 15, 2018, that five Russian citizens were killed as a result of the US Air Force airstrike, while emphasizing that "we are not talking about Russian military personnel."

Western media did not write more about such large losses.

As a result of blowing up a car on a radio-controlled landmine, four Russian servicemen were killed and two were injured.

In total, according to official publications of the Ministry of Defense and representatives of regional authorities, the irretrievable combat losses of personnel of the RF Armed Forces during the military operation in Syria, which began on September 30, 2015, amounted to 26 people (including those killed on February 16).

In addition, one non-combat loss was recorded - on October 27, 2015, the Ministry of Defense reported that a technical specialist, contract serviceman Vadim Kostenko died as a result of suicide at the Khmeimim airbase.

On November 19, 2015, captain of the RF Armed Forces Fedor Zhuravlev was killed while performing a combat mission in Syria. The officer ensured the guidance of air-launched cruise missiles at the positions of the terrorists, the details of his death are unknown. The loss was officially confirmed on March 17, 2016 at the awards ceremony for the participants in the operation. Fedor Zhuravlev was awarded the Order of Courage posthumously.

On November 24, 2015, a Su-24M front-line bomber (tail number "83 white", registration number RF-90932) of the Special Aviation Group of the Russian Aerospace Forces in Syria was shot down by an F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter of the Turkish Air Force in Syrian airspace. The pilots managed to eject, fire was opened on them from the ground, the pilot, Lieutenant Colonel Oleg Peshkov, died. According to the Turkish side, the bomber was shot down due to violation of the Turkish air border. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation denied the fact that the Su-24M was in Turkish airspace.

Aerospace Forces helicopters took off in search of the pilots, during the operation one of them (Mi-8AMTSh) was damaged by shelling from the ground. On board, a marine contract soldier, sailor Alexander Pozynich, died. The helicopter made an emergency landing on neutral territory, the crew and personnel of the search and rescue group were evacuated, the aircraft itself was later destroyed by mortar fire from the territory controlled by the armed formations. The navigator of the downed bomber, Captain Konstantin Murakhtin, was rescued by special forces of the Russian Armed Forces and the Syrian army. On November 25, 2015, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, Lieutenant Colonel Oleg Peshkov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation, Captain Konstantin Murakhtin and sailor Alexander Pozynich (posthumously) were awarded the Order of Courage.

On February 1, 2016, as a result of a mortar attack by militants of the Islamic State terrorist organization (banned in the Russian Federation), one of the formations of the Syrian army was mortally wounded by a Russian military adviser lieutenant colonel. According to the Ministry of Defense, the officer performed the tasks of assisting the Syrian army in the development of new weapons supplied under existing interstate contracts for military-technical cooperation. The soldier was posthumously nominated for a state award.

On March 17, 2016, in the area of ​​​​the settlement of Tadmor (Palmyra, Homs province), Alexander Prokhorenko, a senior lieutenant of the Special Operations Forces of the RF Armed Forces, was killed while carrying out the task of directing Russian aircraft strikes at the targets of ISIS terrorists. Being surrounded by terrorists, he opened fire on himself. Representatives of the Ministry of Defense officially announced the death of Prokhorenko on March 24, 2016. On April 11, 2016, he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.

On April 12, 2016, while performing flights in the Homs region, a Mi-28N VKS helicopter crashed. Both crew members were killed - commander Andrey Okladnikov and navigator Viktor Pankov. According to the press service of the Ministry of Defense, "there was no fire impact on the helicopter." According to the preliminary conclusions of the commission of the military department, the cause of the disaster was a pilot error.

On May 7, 2016, Russian Armed Forces sergeant Anton Erygin died in a field hospital in Syria. The Ministry of Defense officially announced the death of a serviceman on May 11. He was awarded the Order of Courage posthumously.

On June 7, 2016, junior sergeant of the RF Armed Forces Mikhail Shirokopoyas died in a Moscow hospital, who in May 2016 was seriously injured as a result of a mine explosion in the province of Aleppo. The death of a serviceman was officially confirmed by the Ministry of Defense on June 16, 2016. Mikhail Shirokopoyas was awarded the Order of Courage posthumously.

On June 16, 2016, Andrey Timoshenkov, a serviceman guarding a humanitarian convoy of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties in Syria, died in a field hospital. The Russian military prevented a car filled with explosives from breaking through to the place where humanitarian aid was given to the civilian population. Posthumously awarded the Order of Courage.

On July 8, 2016, in the province of Homs, Russian instructor pilots flew over a Syrian Mi-25 helicopter with ammunition (according to other sources, they piloted the Mi-35M VKS). At that moment, east of Palmyra, a large detachment of IS militants attacked the positions of the Syrian troops and, breaking through the defenses, rapidly advanced deep into the area, creating a threat of capturing the dominant heights. The crew of the car decided to attack the terrorists. Having used up ammunition, the helicopter, while turning back, was hit by fire from the ground and fell in an area controlled by the Syrian government army. Both crew members were killed - pilot Colonel Ryafagat Khabibullin and pilot-operator Lieutenant Evgeny Dolgin. They are presented to high state awards posthumously.

On July 22, 2016, Russian contract serviceman Nikita Shevchenko died in Aleppo province. He followed the convoy with food and water for local residents in an escort car. At the entrance to the settlement next to the car, an improvised explosive device planted by the militants was activated. Nikita Shevchenko presented to the state award posthumously.

On August 1, 2016, in the province of Idlib, as a result of shelling from the ground, a Russian helicopter Mi-8AMTSh (tail number "212 yellow", registration number RF-95585) of the VKS was shot down. He was returning to the Khmeimim air base after delivering humanitarian aid to Aleppo. On board were three crew members and two officers of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties in Syria, all of whom died.

From Birobidzhan - died during the shelling of the medical campus of the mobile hospital of the Ministry of Defense by anti-government rebels. Another Russian physician (children's pediatrician Vadim Arsentiev) was seriously injured, and local residents who had come to see doctors were also injured. On December 8, 2016, Putin awarded Nadezhda Durachenko and Galina Mikhailova the Order of Courage (posthumously), and Vadim Arsentiev was also awarded the Order of Courage.

On December 7, 2016, the Ministry of Defense reported that Guards Colonel Ruslan Galitsky died in the hospital, having been injured in Aleppo during an artillery shelling of one of the residential areas of the western part of the city by "opposition" militants. The colonel, who was on a business trip in Syria as a military adviser, assisted the command staff of one of the formations of the Syrian army in organizing the training of units and subunits, as well as in mastering military equipment. On December 8, 2016, Putin awarded Ruslan Galitsky with the Order of Courage (posthumously).

MOSCOW (Reuters) - About 300 people working for a Kremlin-linked Russian private military company were killed and wounded in Syria last week, three people familiar with the incident told Reuters.

A Russian military doctor said about 100 people had died, while a source who knows several of the fighters said the death toll had risen to over 80.

The timing of the casualties coincided with a February 7 battle near the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor, where U.S. officials and acquaintances said U.S.-led coalition forces attacked formations linked to Moscow's ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The Russian authorities reported the possible death of five citizens not related to the armed forces.

The clashes show that Moscow is more militarily involved in the Syrian events than it has previously said, and risks being embroiled in a direct confrontation with the United States in this Middle Eastern country.

The losses suffered by Russia were the largest since the war in eastern Ukraine in 2014. Moscow denies sending troops and volunteers to Ukraine and has never confirmed reports of casualties.

The wounded evacuated from Syria in the past few days have been taken to four Russian military hospitals, five people familiar with the situation said.

A military doctor who works at a Moscow hospital and treats the wounded brought in from Syria said that as of Saturday there were more than 50 such patients in his hospital, of which 30 percent were seriously injured.

The doctor, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is prohibited from disclosing casualties, said that at least three planes carrying the wounded arrived in Moscow between Friday and Monday.

According to him, these were specially equipped military transport aircraft, in which there are 2-3 modules for the seriously wounded and up to several dozen seats for the lightly wounded.

Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said on Thursday that according to preliminary information, five Russian citizens may have died in the battle area, but they were not military personnel. According to her, reports of tens and hundreds of dead Russians were misinformation against Russia's opponents.

The Russian Defense Ministry did not respond to questions from Reuters about casualties in Syria.

Asked about Russia's losses in Syria, a Kremlin spokesman said on Thursday he had nothing to add to previous statements. Earlier this week, the Kremlin said it had no information on any casualties.

Reuters has been unable to directly contact the contractors' employer, the so-called Wagner Group, whose fallen fighters have received Kremlin awards in the past.

The military doctor said that he knew from the resuscitator who flew to Syria for the wounded that as of the end of last week, the death toll was about 100, the wounded - about 200.

Yevgeny Shabayev, chieftain of the Khovrino Cossack society with ties to private military experts, said he was visiting acquaintances wounded in Syria at the Defense Ministry's Central Military Hospital in Khimki on Wednesday.

According to him, the wounded told him that two units of Russian private military specialists who took part in the battle near Deir ez-Zor numbered 550 people. Of this number, about 200 people were not killed or injured.

Shabaev said there were 8 people in the ward he visited, all evacuated from Syria in the past few days. The other wards of the department were completely occupied by the wounded.

“If you understand what military operations and combat wounds are, then you can imagine what is happening there. That is, constant screams, yells… It’s a difficult picture,” he said.

A source close to the Wagner group, who spoke to the participants in the February 7 battle, said his acquaintances told him about more than 80 dead private military specialists from Russia.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the total of about 300 killed and wounded was broadly correct.

According to him, in the bodies of many wounded there are fragments that are not visible on the X-ray, which makes treatment difficult.

"The prognosis for most of those affected is poor," he said.

WAR THROUGH INTERMEDIARIES

In addition to the hospital in Khimki, the wounded are being treated at the Vishnevsky Third Central Military Clinical Hospital in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Region, the Burdenko Main Military Clinical Hospital in Moscow and the Military Medical Academy in St. Petersburg, said a doctor, Shabaev and three other people who know the dead and wounded. fighters.

Reuters contacted the designated hospitals by phone on Thursday. The staff either declined to comment or denied the presence of patients brought in from Syria.

A Reuters correspondent visited Burdenko Hospital on Wednesday and spoke briefly to patients who said they knew nothing about anyone evacuated from Syria. Reuters journalists also visited a hospital in Krasnogorsk and a hospital in Balashikha, but were not allowed to enter the buildings.

Russia launched a military operation in Syria in September 2015, turning the tide of the conflict in favor of Assad.

Russian officials deny the use of private military specialists in Syria, saying that Moscow's presence is limited to airstrikes, a naval base and military instructors training the Syrian military, as well as a small number of special operations forces fighters.

However, according to people familiar with the situation, the Russian authorities use a large number of private contractors in Syria, as this allows them to increase their presence in the conflict zone without risking the lives of ordinary military personnel whose deaths they would have to report.

The contractors, most of whom are ex-military, are carrying out assignments from the Russian military, people familiar with the situation say. Most of them are Russian citizens, although some have Ukrainian and Serbian passports.

The United States and Russia, which support the warring parties in the Syrian conflict, are making significant efforts to avoid military clashes. But the presence of private military specialists from the Russian Federation introduces an element of unpredictability.

INTELLIGENCE IN BATTLE

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said last week that Assad's allies, backed by artillery, tanks, rocket launchers and mortars, attacked US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces fighters near Deir ez-Zor on February 7.

US officials say US special forces were attacked along with the SDF.

The US-led coalition responded to the attack by killing about 100 Assad-allied forces, the official said.

After the battle, comrades of Russian private military specialists said that the pro-Assad forces included Russians, who are also among the victims.

Shabaev said the losses were so high because of a lack of air support and also because the strike was carried out by well-equipped forces rather than poorly armed militants.

“At first there was a raid by bombers, and then the Apaches cleared them out,” Shabaev said, referring to the words of the wounded.

A source close to the Wagner group said that the forces hit by the coalition consisted mainly of Russian private military specialists, plus "a number of Syrians and Iranians."

According to him, on February 7, these forces advanced to the village of Khsham in the province of Deir ez-Zor, in a zone designated as neutral under an agreement between the Russian military and the coalition led by the United States.

He said the goal was to see how the coalition would react. According to him, the forces approached the positions of the SDF and the Americans at a distance of less than 5 kilometers.

The source said that US-led forces, following a procedure agreed with Russia, had warned the Russian military that they were preparing to strike. He does not know if the warning was passed on to private military experts.

“The warning was 20 minutes in advance, during such a time it is unrealistic to deploy the convoy, but the formalities have been completed,” the source said.

According to him, private specialists did not respond to the fire, so as not to provoke new strikes from the coalition.

With the participation of Anton Zverev. Text by Christian Lowe. Translated by Dmitry Antonov

Which began on September 30, 2015, according to official figures, 107 Russian servicemen were killed. 74 of them were victims of air crashes.

On March 6, 2018, a Russian An-26 transport aircraft crashed while landing at the Khmeimim airfield in Syria. The aircraft crashed over 500 meters from the runway. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the cause could be a technical malfunction of the aircraft. The military department stressed that the liner was not shot down. The victims of the crash were 39 servicemen.

On May 3, 2018, a Russian Su-30SM fighter jet crashed off the coast of Latakia in Syria. The two pilots on board were killed. Su-30 crashed into the Mediterranean Sea. The fighter was gaining altitude after taking off from the Russian Khmeimim air base. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation suggested that a possible cause of the crash could be a bird getting into the engine, since there was no fire impact on the aircraft.

On May 7, 2018, a Russian Ka-52V helicopter crashed in Syria, killing both pilots. According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the cause of the crash could be a technical malfunction of the aircraft.

On September 17, 2018, an Il-20 electronic reconnaissance aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces disappeared from radar while landing near the Khmeimim air base over the Mediterranean Sea. On board the aircraft, according to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, there were 15 Russian servicemen. According to the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Igor Konashenkov, “hiding behind a Russian aircraft, Israeli pilots set it up under fire from Syrian air defense systems.”