The Islamic State’s shelling of a Syrian military post killed a high-ranking Russian general.
A high-ranking Russian general was killed by Islamic State (ISIS) fire in Syria.
Russia’s Defense Ministry announced Sunday that Lt. Gen. Valery Asapov, who was killed in fighting in Syria, “was at a command post of Syrian troops, assisting the Syrian commanders in the operation for the liberation of the city of Deir ez-Zor.”
State news agency TASS reported that “as a result of a mortar shelling by the Islamic State, Asapov was mortally wounded.” The statement did not say when it happened.
The general will receive a state award posthumously, the ministry said..
A key commander in the Russian conquest of Crimea, Asapov is the highest-ranking Russian military casualty killed in Syria to date.
In 2013, President Vladimir Putin presented Asapov with the prestigious Order of Merit for the Fatherland.
Official figures from Russia’s Defense Ministry state that 37 Russian servicemen have been killed in Syria since the start of the Russian military campaign in 2015.
By: World Israel News Staff