The number of Russian soldiers killed in Syria. How many Russians have died in Syria since the start of the VKS military operation. Surovikin Sergey Vladimirovich

Over the three years of the military operation in Syria, since 2015, the losses of the Russian Armed Forces amounted to 112 people. The number of military personnel killed was reported by the former Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces (VKS) of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security, Viktor Bondarev.

“At the moment, the losses of our Armed Forces in Syria amount to 112 people, almost half of which are due to the An-26 crash and the downed Il-20,”

— the senator’s press service quotes him as saying. The statement was published in connection with the third anniversary of the start of Russia's operation in Syria.

Losses in equipment are insignificant: 8 aircraft, 7 helicopters and “possibly 1-2 armored personnel carriers and an armored car,” Bondarev added.

For comparison, the senator recalled the number of losses of the USSR Armed Forces in Afghanistan, where in the first three years of the war, 4.8 thousand military personnel were killed, about 60 tanks, at least 400 armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, infantry fighting vehicles, as well as 15 aircraft and 97 helicopters were lost.

During this time, the Russian military killed about 85 thousand terrorists, reports FAN.

In addition, Bondarev made a comparison with the losses of the US-led coalition during the active phase of the campaign in Iraq - from 2003 to 2006. Then the allies, according to the senator, lost more than 2.5 thousand military personnel, a couple of dozen M1 Abrams tanks, several dozen armored personnel carriers, about 50 Bradley armored infantry vehicles, 15 aircraft and about 80 attack and transport helicopters, reports NSN.

“The Russian counter-terrorism operation in Syria proved that we have learned to fight,” Bondarev emphasized. According to him, the most important criterion of military excellence is not the fact of victory itself, but its price.

Late in the evening of September 17, a Russian Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft crashed in the Mediterranean Sea. At approximately 23:00 Moscow time, the aircraft, located 35 km from the Syrian coast, disappeared from radar.

This happened while Israeli Air Force F-16 fighters were carrying out airstrikes on Syrian territory, and missiles were being launched from the French warship Auvergne. It later turned out that the plane was shot down by a Syrian air defense S-200 anti-aircraft missile system.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has released second-by-second details of the flight of Israeli Air Force F-16 fighters and S-200 missiles during an attack on a Russian Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft.

“The data was obtained from the indicators of the combat control point of the S-400 system from the Khmeimim airbase. The technical capabilities of the complex make it possible to detect and track both aerodynamic targets and high-speed ones flying along a ballistic trajectory,”

— said official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry Igor Konashenkov.

He explained that the automated control system of Syrian air defense systems assigned the missile number 158B. Index B means an air target that flies along a ballistic trajectory at high speed.

“The screen clearly shows the direction of flight of the S-200 missile fired by the Syrian air defense complex, as well as the position of the Russian and Israeli aircraft. At the same time, it is quite clearly visible that the direction of the missile’s flight is aimed at the Israeli plane,” Konashenkov noted. The general emphasized that Israel's statements about non-involvement in the tragedy do not reflect the real state of affairs.

Russia began its military operation in Syria in September 2015. This operation was the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union that the Russian military took part in hostilities outside the former USSR. The first commander was Colonel General Alexander Dvornikov.

Russia's entry into the conflict allowed a radical change in the direction and nature of military operations. By the beginning of 2018, it became clear that the coalition of forces led by Russia (Syria, Iran and various local militias) was already close to fulfilling its main military-strategic objectives. This military success led to the achievement of political advantages and the establishment of a political agreement on Russian terms.

The military operations of the Russian army in Syria were actively used as a testing ground for new combat platforms and weapons systems. Thanks to regular rotations, the Syrian campaign had a huge impact on increasing the experience of the personnel of the Russian Armed Forces.

On December 11, 2017, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, during a visit to the Khmeimim airbase, announced the end of hostilities and the withdrawal of Russian troops from Syria and on the same day gave an order to the Minister of Defense, Army General Sergei Shoigu, to withdraw the bulk of the forces and assets of the Russian group of troops. The first units returned to their locations in Russia on December 12, and the withdrawal operation was finally completed on December 22 of the same year.

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Since September 30, 2015, at the request of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Russia has been monitoring terrorist targets in Syria. In March 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to withdraw most of the Russian Aerospace Forces group due to the successful completion of tasks. On December 11, 2017, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the withdrawal of Russian troops from Syria, which had been there since September 2015 at the request of Damascus. However, on the territory of an Arab republic.

2018

On May 27, when shelled by militants in the province of Deir ez-Zor in Syria. Two Russian military advisers who controlled the fire of the Syrian battery died on the spot. Five Russian servicemen were wounded and were quickly taken to a military hospital. Two of them could not be saved.

On May 7, a Russian Ka-52 helicopter was performing a scheduled flight over the eastern regions of Syria. Both pilots died, their bodies were found and taken to the airfield. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the cause of the incident could have been a technical malfunction.

On May 3, a Russian Su-30SM fighter plane crashed in Syria. The accident occurred over the Mediterranean Sea when the fighter was gaining altitude after takeoff from the Khmeimim airfield. Both pilots, who fought for the plane until the last minutes,...

On March 6, a Russian An-26 military transport plane crashed while landing at the Syrian Khmeimim airfield. As a result of the tragedy, one of whom was with the rank of major general, as well as warrant officers and contract servicemen. All of them were servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces.

On February 3, a Russian Su-25 plane was shot down in the Syrian province of Idlib, the pilot managed to eject, but died, an organization banned in Russia, Jabhat al-Nusra*.

On January 3, it became known that a Russian Mi-24 helicopter crashed in Syria 15 kilometers from Hama airfield. Both pilots were killed. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the tragedy was not caused by any fire impact on the Mi-24.

2017

On October 10, pilot Yuri Medvedkov and navigator Yuri Kopylov were killed in Syria. To carry out a combat mission, the Russian Su-24 aircraft they were flying was destroyed while accelerating for takeoff from the Khmeimim airfield.

On October 2, Russian Colonel Valery Fedyanin, who was wounded in Syria, died. Officer when terrorists detonated a landmine under the car in which Fedyanin was delivering humanitarian aid in the Syrian province of Hama.

On September 25, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that Lieutenant General Valery Asapov was attacked by terrorists from the Islamic State terrorist organization banned in Russia*. Asapov was the senior group of Russian military advisers and was at the command post of Syrian troops fighting in the area of ​​​​the city of Deir ez-Zor. During a mortar attack by terrorists, the general was mortally wounded.

On September 4, it became known that two Russian contract soldiers were killed in Syria as a result of mortar fire by militants of the terrorist group “Islamic State”*, banned in Russia. Military personnel convoy the Russian Reconciliation Center in the province of Deir ez-Zor.

On July 10, during a mortar attack by terrorists in the Syrian province of Hama, while on duty, a native of the city of Sol-Iletsk, Orenburg Region, 33-year-old military adviser Captain Nikolai Afanasov.

On May 3, in Syria, saving a comrade from terrorists, Captain Evgeniy Konstantinov, who, as a military adviser, helped the command of the Syrian army in training and educating military personnel.

On April 20, it became known that Russian military adviser Major Sergei Bordov died in Syria during a militant attack on a military garrison. The officer involved in training Syrian units prevented terrorists from breaking into a residential town, taking command of the Syrian military personnel. During the battle, Sergei Bordov.

On April 11, it became known that two Russian servicemen were in Syria and another was wounded. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Russian contract servicemen, who were in one of the units of the Syrian army as rifle training instructors together with an officer - a Russian military adviser, were subjected to mortar fire from a group of militants.

On March 2, contract service private Artem Gorbunov, who was performing tasks in Syria to protect a group of Russian military advisers, in the Palmyra area while repelling an attempt to break through by a group of IS* militants into the positions of Syrian troops where the military advisers were located.

On February 20, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that four Russian servicemen were killed and two were wounded in Syria when a car was blown up by a radio-controlled landmine on February 16. A convoy of Syrian troops, in which a car with Russian military advisers was traveling, was traveling from the area of ​​the Tiyas airfield in the direction of the city of Homs. When the convoy drove about four kilometers, a radio-controlled charge went off under the car in which the Russian military personnel were located.

2016

On December 8, according to media reports, in the Palmyra area, when radical Islamists began fighting to return the city to their control, the commander of the air assault battalion, a native of Kalmykia, Major Sanal Sanchirov, was killed. December 13 Sanal Sanchirov.

On December 7, it became known that Russian military adviser Colonel Ruslan Galitsky died from wounds received during artillery shelling by militants of the so-called “opposition” of one of the residential areas of Aleppo. Military doctors fought for the officer’s life for several days, but failed to save him. Galitsky was part of a group of advisers who carry out tasks in Syria. The command of Colonel Galitsky to a high state award posthumously.

On December 5, as a result of artillery shelling of a Russian mobile military hospital deployed in Syrian Aleppo: foreman Nadezhda Vladimirovna Durachenko, junior sergeant Galina Viktorovna Mikhailova, a professor of the Department of Childhood Diseases of the Military Medical Academy named after. Kirova Arsentiev Vadim Gennadievich. As a result of the shelling, local residents who arrived for the reception were also injured. The Russian Ministry of Defense regards the incident as a planned murder, for which its patrons in the West are also responsible.

On August 1, a Russian Aerospace Forces Mi-8 helicopter, carrying out a humanitarian mission, was shot down in the Syrian province of Idlib. On board were three crew members and two officers from the Russian Center for Reconciliation. According to official information received from the Russian Ministry of Defense, they all died heroically while trying to steal the car away.

On July 22, it became known that Russian private Nikita Shevchenko died in the Syrian province of Aleppo while performing a mission to escort a convoy of vehicles from the Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties. Shevchenko accompanied the convoy with food and water for local residents. At the entrance to the village, an improvised explosive device planted by militants went off next to the car. Russian military doctors are on the spot, but they could not save him.

On July 8, Russian military instructor pilots Ryafagat Khabibulin and Evgeniy Dolgin died in Syria during a flight over Palmyra.

As the ministry clarified, on that day a large detachment of militants from the terrorist organization “Islamic State”*, banned in the Russian Federation, attacked the positions of Syrian troops east of Palmyra. Having broken through the defenses, the terrorists were able to capture the dominant heights. At this time, Khabibulin and Dolgin were flying over a Syrian Mi-25 helicopter. Crew commander Khabibulin decided to attack the terrorists. The terrorists are attacking thanks to the competent actions of the Russian crew. The helicopter crew died.

On June 19, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced the death in Syria of a serviceman guarding a humanitarian convoy of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of Warring Parties. Sergeant Andrei Timoshenkov died after stopping a car filled with explosives, in which a suicide bomber was trying to break through to the place where humanitarian aid was distributed to residents of Homs province. When the car explodes, Andrei himself.

In May, while performing a combat mission in Syria. By decree of the President of the Russian Federation, he was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage.

On May 11, it became known that in the province of Homs, while carrying out tasks to escort vehicles of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties, Russian serviceman Anton Erygin was seriously injured as a result of shelling by militants. Immediately after, he was taken to the hospital, where military doctors spent two days, but they could not save Anton Yerygin.

In the first half of May, a Russian contract soldier, junior sergeant Mikhail Shirokopoyas, was wounded in the province of Aleppo. He was supposed to stay in Syria for three months. Military doctors promptly provided medical assistance to the serviceman, and he was transported to a military clinical hospital in Moscow by a special aircraft of the Russian Defense Ministry. June 7 Mikhail Shirokopoyas.

On April 12, a Mi-28N Night Hunter helicopter of the Russian armed forces crashed in Syria near the city of Homs. As a result of the crash.

According to media reports, the dead pilots were graduates of the Syzran Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots: commander Andrei Okladnikov, graduated in 2000, and navigator Viktor Pankov, graduated in 2011. Before the mission to Syria, the helicopter crew served in the 487th separate helicopter regiment in Budennovsk, Stavropol Territory.

March 24, Russian Ministry of Defense in Syria. Senior Lieutenant Alexander Prokhorenko died while directing airstrikes against terrorists near Palmyra. The officer called fire on himself when he was discovered and surrounded by militants. By decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prokhorenko was awarded the title of Hero of Russia for the courage and heroism shown in the performance of military duty. The body of the deceased officer Prokhorenko was taken to Russia, the officer was buried in the village of Gorodki, Tyulgansky district.

On February 1, as a result of a mortar attack by Islamic State terrorists* on a military garrison where one of the Syrian army units was stationed, a Russian military adviser was mortally wounded. The name of a military adviser killed in Syria. Later, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the name of the deceased - Ivan Cheremisin.

2015

November 25, Russian officer Fyodor Zhuravlev, who died while performing his military duty in Syria, Bryansk region. Fyodor Zhuravlev was a gunner whose task was to coordinate airstrikes by the Russian Air Force. He gave his life while guiding long-range strategic aviation missiles.

On November 24, a Russian Su-24 was over Syrian territory. The crew commander and navigator managed to eject before the plane crashed. Commander Oleg Peshkov died as a result of gunfire from militants from the ground during landing, navigator Konstantin Murakhtin was rescued by a search and rescue group of Russian infantry with fire support from Syrian special forces. During the rescue operation, Marine Alexander Pozynich died.

*Terrorist and extremist organizations banned in Russia

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti

Over the three years of the military operation in Syria, since 2015, the losses of the Russian Armed Forces amounted to 112 people. The number of dead military personnel was reported by the former Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces (VKS) of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Defense and Security Committee Viktor.

“At the moment, the losses of our Armed Forces in Syria amount to 112 people, almost half of which are due to the An-26 crash and the downed Il-20,”

— the senator’s press service quotes him as saying. The statement was published in connection with the third anniversary of the start of Russia's operation in Syria.

Losses in equipment are insignificant: 8 aircraft, 7 helicopters and “possibly 1-2 armored personnel carriers and an armored car,” Bondarev added.

For comparison, the senator recalled the number of losses of the USSR Armed Forces in Afghanistan, where in the first three years of the war, 4.8 thousand military personnel were killed, about 60 tanks, at least 400 armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, infantry fighting vehicles, as well as 15 aircraft and 97 helicopters were lost.

During this time, the Russian military killed about 85 thousand terrorists, reports FAN .

In addition, Bondarev made a comparison with the losses of the US-led coalition during the active phase of the campaign in Iraq - from 2003 to 2006. Then the allies, according to the senator, lost more than 2.5 thousand military personnel, a couple of dozen M1 Abrams tanks, several dozen armored personnel carriers, about 50 Bradley armored infantry vehicles, 15 aircraft and about 80 attack and transport helicopters, reports NSN .

“The Russian counter-terrorism operation in Syria proved that we have learned to fight,” Bondarev emphasized. According to him, the most important criterion of military excellence is not the fact of victory itself, but its price.

Late in the evening of September 17, a Russian Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft crashed in the Mediterranean Sea. At approximately 23:00 Moscow time, the aircraft, located 35 km from the Syrian coast, disappeared from radar.

This happened while Israeli Air Force F-16 fighters were carrying out airstrikes on Syrian territory, and missiles were being launched from the French warship Auvergne. It later turned out that the plane was shot down by a Syrian air defense S-200 anti-aircraft missile system.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has released second-by-second details of the flight of Israeli Air Force F-16 fighters and S-200 missiles during an attack on a Russian Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft.

“The data was obtained from the indicators of the combat control point of the S-400 system from the Khmeimim airbase. The technical capabilities of the complex make it possible to detect and track both aerodynamic targets and high-speed ones flying along a ballistic trajectory,”

- said the official representative of the Russian Federation Igor.

He explained that the automated control system of Syrian air defense systems assigned the missile number 158B. Index B means an air target that flies along a ballistic trajectory at high speed.

“The screen clearly shows the direction of flight of the S-200 missile fired by the Syrian air defense complex, as well as the position of the Russian and Israeli aircraft. At the same time, it is quite clearly visible that the direction of the missile’s flight is aimed at the Israeli plane,” Konashenkov noted. The general emphasized that Israel's statements about non-involvement in the tragedy do not reflect the real state of affairs.

Russia began its military operation in Syria in September 2015. This operation was the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union that the Russian military took part in hostilities outside the former USSR. The first commander was a colonel general.

Russia's entry into the conflict allowed a radical change in the direction and nature of military operations. By the beginning of 2018, it became clear that the coalition of forces led by Russia (Syria, Iran and various local militias) was already close to fulfilling its main military-strategic objectives. This military success led to the achievement of political advantages and the establishment of a political agreement on Russian terms.

The military operations of the Russian army in Syria were actively used as a testing ground for new combat platforms and weapons systems. Thanks to regular rotations, the Syrian campaign had a huge impact on increasing the experience of the personnel of the Russian Armed Forces.

On December 11, 2017, the President of the Russian Federation, during a visit to the Khmeimim airbase, announced the end of hostilities and the withdrawal of Russian troops from Syria and on the same day gave an order to the Minister of Defense, General of the Army, to withdraw the bulk of the forces and assets of the Russian group of troops. The first units returned to their locations in Russia on December 12, and the withdrawal operation was finally completed on December 22 of the same year.

About the dead - below...

Officers of the 231st air defense regiment against the background of the S-200 air defense missile launcher in Syria

Part 1 (50s) - here:

I have written more than once about what to do with Syria now - to divide - by the way, they seemed to listen to me and began to divide, but, as usual, they froze at the very first steps. Background:
How Russia saved Syria before - this happened at least twice:
Let's continue, part 2:
1983:

In 1982, Israel, under the cover of the Falklands War (about it here:), decided to once again treat its cousins ​​with lead (Kestler disputes this) and certainly its fellow Palestinians - and invaded Lebanon. But not like recently, in 2006, but in a serious way, with the capture of Beirut (which, of course, they failed to do, but instead of the PLO they got Hezbollah). At the same time, naturally, Israeli forces found themselves under the threat of a flank attack from Syrian troops in Lebanon. Jews don’t like such things, so on June 9 (although there were clashes before and after that) a massive blow was struck against Syrian air defenses in the Bekaa Valley - perhaps the first case in modern military history of the complete defeat of anti-aircraft missile forces (19 out of 24 divisions were destroyed ) from the air - and since then the situation has only gotten worse! At the same time, air battles took place, during which the Jews managed to gain complete air supremacy in the theater of operations. Here I will only note that on land things were more balanced. It was necessary to somehow get out of the Beirut impasse, and the West decided to replace the withdrawing (after the evacuation of the PLO) Israeli army with its own forces - in August, US Marines, as well as French and Italian units, landed in Lebanon. This was already a direct military invasion of the West into the region! But in the USSR L. Brezhnev was dying and, in general, there was no time for the Middle East. Only in October was it possible to “get through” to Andropov (during this time counter-propaganda in Arab countries was trying hard - our equipment was bad, the Russians abandoned their allies, and they were also imperialists, etc.), then the decision was made to introduce our air defense units.
In February 1983, the transfer to Syria of a combined air defense brigade began - the 220th and 231st air defense systems (deployed in the districts of Homs and Dumeira), a technical regiment (Guta - where the last chemical attack took place) and an electronic warfare unit. Each air defense missile system has 2 S-200 divisions, one Os and ZA, as well as a motorized rifle company. Initially it was planned to limit it to 2,500 people l/s, but this figure (albeit together with advisers) quickly grew to 8,000. An operational control group of the 5th OPESK was deployed under the air defense brigade. Perhaps for the first time outside of Europe, our and American troops found themselves so close to each other and in an explosive situation (Cuba is a slightly different “calico”).
But in the meantime, problems began for the Americans and French - in October, suicide bombers blew up the barracks of their Marines in Beirut, killing about. 300 soldiers, they decided to respond - they called the battleship "New Jersey" (in general, a good idea - to fight terrorists with 406-mm shells weighing a ton!) and decided to bomb (at first, and then - as it goes!)... Strikes, why- then they hit the Syrian positions. But on December 4, over Bekaa, our air defense systems (whose crews are another question...) American carrier-based A-6 and A-7 were shot down (these are losses recognized by the Americans, they are probably greater, but, of course, not the same as those of General G. Yashkin - he already destroyed all Israeli aviation in his memoirs; I will leave the incident with the destruction of the E-2 outside the brackets). The result is the withdrawal of American (and other Western, Italians were the first to grease their heels) troops from Lebanon in February 1984. Our air defense brigade left Syria in the summer of the same year (Andropov had already died, K. Chernenko was sitting in the Kremlin), handing over the military and military equipment to the Syrians - so they still have these S-200s - as we remember, the loss of our aircraft not so long ago is connected with them ...
That. Thus, in this case, to protect an ally, they used the option of their direct military presence (for others, see here:), which could not but affect the implementation of the plans of Israel and the United States regarding Syria (the former generally accepted the “red line” established by our anti-aircraft gunners and his planes did not cross it). There is no doubt that without the presence of our troops in the country, pressure on Syria would have continued, right up to intervention and a change of power by force. Yes, as always, this was a period of sharp intensification of the Islamist armed “opposition” in Syria.
Although our military did not officially take part in the combat operations in the Middle East in 1982-83, advisers (and, probably, technical specialists) were in active Syrian units and suffered losses - 15 dead and 200 wounded (most, obviously, during the Israeli strikes on June 9, 1982)...

What I want to say in conclusion:
On the one hand, yes, the Russian Federation, purely military-technically, is much weaker than the USSR in the 80s, but if we remember the situation in 1957 (Part 1), I would not be so categorical when comparing the potential of the West-USSR then and the West-RF now ! Methods of solution, strengths and means were also found... It’s another matter that this is only technical! The USSR had an idea and a goal, in accordance with which it acted. What guides the Russian Federation in its actions and decisions in the outside world now is absolutely unclear - there is not even the slightest sign of the presence of at least some coherent policy! It is clear that the Russians are impressed by their persistence in upholding the norms of international law regarding Syria over the past three years (after Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, etc.) and the conduct of the current military operation there - but this is not the result of some plan that has a specific goal and provided with resources (of various kinds!), but just tactical moves, although the fact that we did not abandon B. Assad impresses many in the region (these are all separate topics and I wrote about them!); I recently heard a version that there was a “behind the scenes” request from the Americans for our direct intervention - ...

P.S. Reference:
in 1956-91, 16,282 people were sent to Syria through the Ministry of Defense (294 generals, 11,169 officers, 624 warrant officers, 2,179 soldiers and sergeants, 2,016 workers and employees), 44 people were killed (died). But that was then, and now the account is NOT closed - even the order is not yet clear... Part 3 of the salvation of Syria is in full swing!
By 1987, 7,326 representatives of the Syrian Armed Forces graduated from military universities in Russia/USSR.

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

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

On May 3, 2018, a Russian Su-30SM fighter 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 takeoff from the Russian Khmeimim airbase. The Russian Ministry of Defense suggested that a possible cause of the plane crash could have been a bird getting into the engine, since there was no fire impact on the plane.

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

On September 17, 2018, an Il-20 electronic reconnaissance aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces disappeared from radars while landing in the area of ​​the Khmeimim airbase over the Mediterranean Sea. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, there were 15 Russian military personnel on board the aircraft. According to the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Igor Konashenkov, “hiding behind a Russian plane, Israeli pilots exposed it to the fire of Syrian air defense systems.”