BELORECHENSK,
Russia (Reuters) - Ten Russian servicemen have been killed fighting in Syria so
far this year, according to statements from the Defence Ministry.
But based on
accounts from families and friends of the dead and local officials, Reuters
estimates the actual death toll among Russian soldiers and private contractors
was at least 40.
That tally
over seven months exceeds the 36 Russian armed personnel and contractors
estimated by Reuters to have been killed in Syria over the previous 15 months,
indicating a significant rise in the rate of battlefield losses as the
country's involvement deepens.(For a graphic on Russian casualties in Syria's
conflict click tmsnrt.rs/2hjq3Et)
Most of the
deaths reported by Reuters have been confirmed by more than one person,
including those who knew the deceased or local officials. In nine cases,
Reuters corroborated a death reported in local or social media with another
source.
The data may
be on the conservative side, as commanders encourage the families of those
killed to keep quiet, relatives and friends of several fallen soldiers, both
servicemen and contractors, said on condition of anonymity.
The true
level of casualties in the Syrian conflict is a sensitive subject in a country
where positive coverage of the conflict features prominently in the media and
ahead of a presidential election next year that incumbent Vladimir Putin is
expected to win.
The scale of
Russian military casualties in peace time has been a state secret since Putin
issued a decree three months before Russia launched its operation in Syria.
While Russia does not give total casualties, it does disclose some deaths.
Discrepancies
in data may be explained partly by the fact that Russia does not openly
acknowledge that private contractors fight alongside the army; their presence
in Syria would appear to flout a legal ban on civilians fighting abroad as
mercenaries.
Asked about
Reuters' latest findings, the Defence Ministry and Kremlin did not respond.
The
government has previously denied understating casualty figures in Syria, where
Moscow entered the conflict nearly two years ago in support of President Bashar
al-Assad, one of its closest Middle East allies.
Months after
soldiers die, Russia quietly acknowledges some losses, including private
military contractors. Their families get state posthumous medals and local
authorities sometimes name schools, which fallen soldiers attended as children,
after them.
Of the 40 killed,
Reuters has evidence that 21 were private contractors and 17 soldiers. The
status of the remaining two people is unclear.
The last
time Russia lost airmen in Syria was in August, 2016, and it suffered its first
serious casualties on the ground this year in January, when six private
military contractors died in one day.
Reuters has
previously reported gaps between its casualty estimates and official figures,
although the difference widened markedly this year.
Russian
authorities disclosed that 23 servicemen were killed in Syria over 15 months in
2015-2016, whereas Reuters calculated the death toll at 36, a figure that
included private contractors.
In It for
the Money?
One private
contractor whose death in Syria was not officially acknowledged was 40-year-old
Alexander Promogaibo, from the southern Russian town of Belorechensk. He died
in Syria on April 25, his childhood friend Artur Marobyan told Reuters.
Promogaibo
had earlier fought in the Chechen war with an elite Russian paratroops unit,
according to Marobyan, who was his classmate at school.
He said his
dead friend had struggled to get by while working as a guard in his hometown
and needed money to build a house to live with his wife and small daughter.
Mission
Creep?
Little is
known about the nature of operations in Syria involving Russian nationals.
Russia initially focused on providing air support to Syrian forces, but the
rate of casualties points to more ground intervention.
The last
time Russia lost airmen in Syria was in August, 2016, and it suffered its first
serious casualties on the ground this year in January, when six private
military contractors died in one day.
Reuters has
previously reported gaps between its casualty estimates and official figures,
although the difference widened markedly this year.
Russian
authorities disclosed that 23 servicemen were killed in Syria over 15 months in
2015-2016, whereas Reuters calculated the death toll at 36, a figure that
included private contractors.
In It for
the Money?
One private
contractor whose death in Syria was not officially acknowledged was 40-year-old
Alexander Promogaibo, from the southern Russian town of Belorechensk. He died
in Syria on April 25, his childhood friend Artur Marobyan told Reuters.
Promogaibo
had earlier fought in the Chechen war with an elite Russian paratroops unit,
according to Marobyan, who was his classmate at school.
He said his
dead friend had struggled to get by while working as a guard in his hometown
and needed money to build a house to live with his wife and small daughter.
The grave of
Russian special forces officer Maxim Sorochenko killed in Syria in November
2015, is seen at a cemetery outside Moscow, Russia, December 27, 2016. 2016.
Maria
Tsvetkova
Last year he
decided to join private military contractors working closely with the Russian
Defence ministry in Syria and was promised a monthly wage of 360,000 rubles
($6,000), about nine times higher than the average Russian salary.
According to
multiple sources, Russian private military contractors are secretly deployed in
Syria under command of a man nicknamed Wagner.
Private
military companies officially don't exist in Russia. Reuters was unable to get
in touch with commanders of Russian private contractors in Syria through people
who know them.
"I told
him it was dangerous and he wouldn't be paid the money for doing nothing, but
couldn't convince him," Marobyan said, recalling one of his last
conversations with Promogaibo.
According to
Marobyan, he got the job offer at a military facility belonging to Russia's
military intelligence agency (GRU) near the village of Molkino. The agency is a
part of the defense ministry and does not have its own spokesperson.
The Kremlin
did not reply to requests for comment.
Promogaibo
went there for physical fitness tests and failed twice. He was accepted only
after showing up for the third time having losing 55 kg after seven months of
training.
Slideshow (4
Images)
"He
left (Russia) in February," said Marobyan, who only learnt that his friend
had been killed in Syria when his body was delivered to his hometown in early
May.
One more
person who knew Promogaibo said he died in Syria.
Reuters was
unable to find out where in Syria Promogaibo was killed.
Igor
Strelkov, former leader of pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine who stayed in
touch with Russian volunteers who switched to battlefields in Syria, said in
late May that military contractors from Russia recently fought near the Syrian
town of Homs alongside Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
Gravestones
Covered Up
Fifty-one-year-old
Russian Gennady Perfilyev, a lieutenant colonel, was deployed in Syria as a
military adviser. He was killed in shelling during a reconnaissance trip on
April 8, his former classmates at Chelyabinsk Higher Tank Command School said.
"Several
grammes of metal hit his heart," Pavel Bykov, one of his classmates, told
Reuters.
One more
classmate confirmed to Reuters Perfilyev was killed in Syria on a
reconnaissance trip.
His name has
not appeared in the Defence Ministry's official notices of military deaths in
Syria.
He was
buried at a new heavily guarded military cemetery outside Moscow where visitors
have to show their passports and are asked at the entrance whose grave they
want to visit.
On
Perfilyev's gravestone, his name and the date of his death are covered by his
portrait.
Several
other servicemen killed in Syria and buried nearby also have photos obscuring
their names and the dates of their death, which if visible would make it easier
to trace how and where they died.
Names on
other graves, of non-Syrian casualties, were visible.
Asked if
this was a special secrecy measure, a cemetery official, Andrei Sosnovsky, said
the names were covered up temporarily until proper monuments could be built.
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