The circumstances of the death of Russian Lieutenant General Valery Asapov in Syria have become known. According to the Telegram channel "Herald of Damascus", the reason for the shelling of the command post, where the military adviser was located, was treachery.
Asapov took an active part in managing the operation to liberate the province of Deir ez-Zor. According to published data, on September 23, volunteer units of the Katarzhi brothers retreated from the command post of the Syrian army in the midst of the battle, after which ISIS terrorists opened heavy fire on it.
The administration of the "Herald of Damascus" suggests that it was the fighters of the paramilitary detachment that gave the radicals the exact coordinates of this object, where at that moment it was Russian general-lieutenant.
Valery Asapov for several months participated in organizing the offensive operations of the Syrian army. He was at the forefront, demonstrating courage and heroism. Probably, the terrorists set out to kill the Russian military, thanks to which a number of important operations were carried out.
It has not been officially confirmed whether the detachment of the Katarzhi brothers really collaborated with the terrorists, but the fact remains that they left their positions, abandoning their allies. The units of the Syrian army, to be frank, in recent times behave in the same way - they are cowardly, waiting for something, retreating, thereby giving the terrorists the opportunity to strengthen their positions.
The government forces of the SAR are clearly forgetting that the province of Deir ez-Zor has a large number of oil and gas fields, which are vital for the restoration of the Syrian economy. Therefore, it is in their interests to clear this region of militants as quickly as possible.
As is known, Russian volunteers and military specialists, who are actively supported by the Aerospace Forces, take part in the crossing of the Euphrates River and the battles on its left bank. The operation is led by advisers from the Russian Federation. Our compatriots are selflessly fighting the militants of the terrorist caliphate, which cannot be said about the Syrian units.
According to political analyst Alexander Asafov, the command of the Syrian army is overly cautious and slow in making cardinal decisions. Instead of moving forward without hesitation, the SAA units stand in one place. This can indeed result in the loss of key oil fields that other parties to the conflict are targeting.
The Syrians should not rely on the allies to do all the work for them. Russian Aerospace Forces, military advisers and volunteers courageously and successfully resist the terrorists, but without the active assistance of the SAA, the operation in the province of Deir ez-Zor could drag on for months.
As a result of a point hit by a mine launched by militants banned in Russia defending in Syrian Deir ez-Zor, a senior military adviser to the Russian Defense Ministry in Syria was killed. According to the RIA Novosti agency, citing a representative of the Ministry of Defense, the lieutenant general will be presented posthumously to high state award.
“The senior group of Russian military advisers, Lieutenant General V. Asapov, was at the command post of the Syrian troops, assisting the Syrian commanders in managing the operation to liberate the city of Deir ez-Zor. As a result of a sudden mortar attack by ISIS militants, Lieutenant-General Valery Asapov was mortally wounded by a mine explosion, ”the military department told the agencies.
She reported death. Her source said that the general and two colonels were the victims of mortar fire on the command post on accurate guidance. Another interlocutor of the radio station at the headquarters of the 5th Army added that Lieutenant General Asapov has not been in touch since 16:00 on Saturday. According to him, under the mortar fire of the militants, not only the general, but also two colonels were killed. The fire was conducted on the exact tip. Mina landed straight into the command post.
A Gazeta.Ru source familiar with the situation confirmed the information about the death of the general.
Valery Asapov commanded the parachute regiment of the Russian peacekeeping forces in Abkhazia in 2001, was also the commander of the 37th separate guards motorized rifle brigade of the 36th combined arms army, and finally led the 5th combined arms army of the Eastern Military District with the rank of lieutenant general . In 2013 he became a Commander of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree.
Militants of the terrorist group "Islamic State" banned on the territory of Russia daily fire at the quarters of Deir ez-Zor, which is now being liberated by the Syrian army with the support of the Russian Aerospace Forces.
Earlier on Sunday, September 24, a quarter of the city of Bhelie was fired upon by militants from mortars. reported that their correspondent had been hit. As a result of a mine explosion, glass was broken and the body of the car was damaged. The correspondent at the time of the shelling was next to the car, along with officers of the Syrian army.
The shelling took place a couple of kilometers from the southern entrance to the city. Terrorists covered with fire the place where two grocery stores are located. There are no military or civilian casualties as a result of this shelling.
On Thursday, September 21, ISIS mortar shelling killed four people and hospitalized more than ten civilians with shrapnel wounds in different parts tel.
In early September, two soldiers from Russia were killed in Syria when IS militants fired on a motorcade of the Russian Center for Reconciliation in the province.
“While following in the province of Deir ez-Zor, a car convoy was subjected to mortar fire by ISIS terrorists. As a result of the shelling, one Russian serviceman was killed, another was seriously injured, ”the Ministry of Defense reported.
The Russian Defense Ministry published on Friday, September 22, data on the effectiveness of the participation of the Russian military in the operation in Syria. According to this statistic
since 2015, with the support of Russia, almost 87.4% of the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic has been liberated.
2,235 settlements have joined the ceasefire regime, Russian aircraft carried out 30,650 sorties, carried out 92,006 air strikes, and hit 96,828 objects of the Islamic State terrorist organization.
At the moment, the main fighting is taking place in the area of the city of Deir ez-Zor - the last "bastion" of ISIS terrorists. The capture of Deir ez-Zor will mean the end of the organized resistance of the Islamic State militants. fighting in Deir ez-Zor are being conducted by government forces with the support of the Russian Aerospace Forces.
The death of Russian Lieutenant General Valery Asapov in Syria indicates the beginning of the active phase of the operation to capture Deir ez-Zor, experts say. Such losses are inevitable and the account is not closed to them, RBC interlocutors warn
Valery Asapov (Photo: Yuri Smityuk / TASS)
First General
On Saturday, September 23, in Syria, Valery Asapov. A day later, it was officially announced Russian Ministry defense. The command post of the Syrian troops, where he was located, came under mortar fire from militants of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization banned in Russia, the military department said: “The senior group of Russian military advisers, Lieutenant General Asapov, assisted Syrian commanders in managing the operation against liberation of the city of Deir ez-Zor.” As a result of a sudden attack by militants, Asapov, according to the ministry, was mortally wounded.
In the 1990s, Asapov participated in an operation to restore constitutional order in Chechnya. In 1995, he was chief of staff of a battalion in Grozny and received a gunshot wound to the leg there. Later, he served as part of the peacekeeping forces in Abkhazia, commanded a motorized rifle brigade in the Eastern Military District. According to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, in March last year, Asapov commanded the First Army Corps in the Donbass on the side of the DPR, the 112 Ukraine TV channel reported in March 2016. In the same year, by decree of the President of Ukraine, Asapov was included in the sanctions list "for actions that violate the rights and freedoms of man and citizen."
While serving in Syria, the general always tried to minimize the risk of losses, a source in the Ministry of Defense, who knew Asapov closely, told RBC. “He didn’t have crazy decisions, they say, to attack - that’s all,” recalls RBC’s interlocutor. According to him, the death of the general is connected, among other things, with bad job Syrian intelligence. “The Syrian military does not always fulfill its obligations: they are slow, they do not work well, including in the intelligence line. We have many allies in quotation marks who help that side, ”the RBC source added. The Ministry of Defense will adjust actions in Syria, he stressed. “Approaches are being reviewed, steps will be taken, the corresponding conclusions will be made too,” the RBC source specified, emphasizing that the intensity of the fight against IS will not be reduced.
Expedited Operation
According to official figures, Lieutenant General Asapov is the 38th Russian soldier who died in Syria. In early September, after IS militants shelled a convoy, two servicemen were killed - also in the province of Deir ez-Zor.
The casualties are caused by the accelerated course of the operation to take Deir ez-Zor: a few weeks ago, the intensity of fighting in this area increased, said Andrey Frolov, editor-in-chief of Arms Export magazine. “In addition to the work of our Aerospace Forces (VKS) in the air on the ground, the Russian military coordinates and advises the Syrians. Therefore, the likelihood of the appearance of senior officers in that area and, accordingly, their death increases, ”he added.
The Russian Defense Ministry that Deir ez-Zor will be fully liberated before the end of this month. While the city is 85% under the control of the Syrian troops, Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the military department, reported last week.
Deir ez-Zor is considered the center of the Syrian oil industry. It was the capture of this region in 2014 that helped ISIS to provide itself with money through the illegal sale of oil, RT reported. Today, about 80% of the province's oil fields are the Konoko, Omar, Jafra, Ezba and Tanak fields. Only the At-Tayem oil field is in the hands of government troops. Beyond oil in Deir ez-Zor. The largest deposit is located in Konoko. Now it is partially destroyed by the Islamists, and earlier it was possible to extract up to 2 million cubic meters. m per year, said earlier the representative of The Syrian Gas Company in Deir ez-Zor Amin Al-Hamid
Taking so big locality, like Deir ez-Zor, is in itself a major military operation, comments Colonel Andrei Payusov. “Accordingly, after the completion of operational planning, work begins directly in the troops. It goes without saying that our specialists work directly in the combat formations of the Syrian army. This means they are at the same risk as the Syrian soldiers,” he said.
Valery Asapov worked at the headquarters of the 5th Assault Corps of the Syrian Arab Army, said reserve colonel, editor-in-chief of the Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine Viktor Murakhovsky. This is the main strike formation in the province of Deir er-Zor, which provided an approach to the city, and is now crossing the Euphrates with access to the eastern bank of the river, where a significant part of gas and oil fields are located, the military expert explained. “The militants have mortars, the reach from the line of contact to the rear of which is several kilometers. The death of a commander is not a phenomenal case, it is impossible to exclude such situations, ”summed up Murakhovsky.
Focus East
Deir ez-Zor was surrounded by militants for more than three years. Government troops broke through its blockade earlier this month, on September 5, with the support of the Russian Aerospace Forces. In fact, in two weeks, Assad's army and its allies managed to march across the desert to the besieged Deir ez-Zor and rejoin the forces of the government garrison - the 137th brigade of the Syrian Armed Forces, consisting of 4 thousand people. Since 2014, the garrison has held the defense of most of the city, as well as the military airfield.
Simultaneously with the Syrian army, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which includes the YPG and YPJ Kurdish self-defense units, are actively attacking from the north towards Der ez-Zor. The attackers are supported from the air by the aviation of the international coalition led by the United States. The main forces of the SDF were thrown into the siege of the city of Raqqa (the self-proclaimed capital of the ISIS in northern Syria): Kurdish detachments have been trying to recapture the city from the terrorists for several months. However, due to the rapid advance of the Syrian army to the east of Syria, part of the Kurdish forces was transferred to Eastern front: On September 9, the SDF with coalition allies began their offensive on Deir ez-Zor, actively clearing the territories on the left bank of the Euphrates from militants in order to contain the advance of Assad's army to the east. Nevertheless, on September 18, the infantry of the Syrian army, along with tanks, crossed over the pontoon crossing to the east bank of the Euphrates.
The media became aware of the details of the death in Syria of Russian Lieutenant General Valery Asapov, who, according to some reports, also fought in the Donbass. According to a Kommersant newspaper source close to the Russian Defense Ministry, the incident took place on September 23.
Asapov was reportedly killed during a mortar attack on Deir ez-Zor. At the same time, the source of the publication assures that "the general was literally torn apart, nothing was left of the person, since he was at the forefront."
According to the radio station "Moscow speaking", two colonels died together with Asapov. Meanwhile, on the page of the group of independent investigators of military conflicts Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) in Facebook it is noted that some details in the reports of different sources who told about the incident diverge.
So, the unofficial account of the Moscow traffic police department on Instagram claimed that only the translator died along with the general, and the Russian Ministry of Defense did not disclose the date of death and did not mention any more victims.
At the same time, the sister of another Russian serviceman who died in Syria, Sergeant Vladimir Tarasyuk, according to CIT, said that a general and a colonel died with him, and this happened on September 16.
The death of General Valery Asapov became known on September 24. As CIT notes, in the morning, messages about this appeared on the social network VKontankte, a few hours later the information was disseminated by an unofficial account of the Moscow traffic police department on Instagram, then by the radio station Moskva Speaks, after which the information was officially confirmed by the Russian Ministry of Defense.
According to Kommersant, Asapov served in Syria for less than a year. He was at the command post of the Syrian troops - he helped the Syrian commanders in managing the operation to liberate Deir ez-Zor, the military reported. In early September, the city was recaptured from the militants of the Islamic State * group, but they continued to shell it. A Russian general became a victim of one of these attacks.
According to Kommersant's estimates, Asapov became the 38th Russian serviceman to die in Syria since the beginning of the operation of the Russian Aerospace Forces in this country. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, in 2017 the death toll was 10 people. The department noted that the general was posthumously nominated for a high state award, without specifying which one. Previously, participants in the operation in the SAR were awarded the title of Hero of Russia and the Order of Courage.
Kommersant writes that Asapov already has the Order of Courage. He was also awarded the Order "For Military Merit", the Order "Veteran Cross" II degree and the medal "For Military Merit". In 2013, President Vladimir Putin presented Valery Asapov with the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 4th Class, for participating in international exercises as commander of the 37th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 36th Army of the Eastern Military District.
The memory of General Asapov was honored on Sakhalin
The action in memory of the deceased general was held on Monday in Sakhalin. "Several dozen people gathered on Glory Square in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk - young people, friends and colleagues of Asapov," a spokesman for the government of the Sakhalin Region told TASS.
According to him, the audience honored the memory of the general with a minute of silence. According to military tradition, gun volleys were fired.
The governor of the region Oleg Kozhemyako took part in the action. According to the representative of the press service, the governor noted that General Asapov loved Sakhalin, gave a lot to this land and planned to stay here at the end of his service.
* "Islamic State" (ISIS, ISIL, DAISH) is a terrorist group banned in the Russian Federation.
On September 24, the Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed the death in Syria of the senior group of Russian military advisers, commander of the 5th Army of the Eastern Military District of the RF Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Valery Asapov. The military leader died during the operation to liberate the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor from the militants of the Islamic State (banned in Russia) and was posthumously "introduced to a high state award."
Only officially confirmed losses
In a statement from the agency, in dry military language, it is noted that Lieutenant General Valery Asapov was fatally wounded from a mine explosion "as a result of a sudden mortar attack by ISIS militants" when "he was at the command post of the Syrian troops, assisting the Syrian commanders in managing the operation to liberate the city" .
There are no additional details of what happened, just as there is no exact date of the death of the Russian. According to a Kommersant source, this happened on September 23 and “the general was literally torn to pieces, nothing was left of the man, since he was at the forefront.” On September 16, relatives of Vladimir Tarasyuk, a contract soldier from Bratsk, who died in Syria, told the media that “a general and a colonel” were killed in the car with him.
The radio station Moskva Speaks was the first to report Asapov’s death: the headquarters of the 5th Army said that when the shell hit the command post, two colonels died along with the general. In social networks, they also wrote about the death of the translator, but the military department did not officially comment on this information.
Later, a source from the Moskva Speaks radio station voiced a version that immediately appeared on Twitter: Valery Asapov could become a victim of betrayal.
Officially, Asapov became the 38th Russian who died in the SAR since the beginning of the military operation, and the highest-ranking one. In February 2017, during active hostilities in the Palmyra region, Major General was seriously injured. Russian army Pyotr Milyukhin - in the explosion he lost both legs and an eye. At that moment, he was directly subordinate to the commander of the Western Military District, Andrei Kartapolov, who heads the Russian group in Syria.
For those who follow the war in Syria, the work of Russian military advisers outside military installations in Khmeimim and Tartus is not new. Moreover, it began before the Ministry of Defense officially recognized the actions "on the ground" of the GRU special forces and the Special Operations Forces. Officially, the command structure of the Russian group in Syria consists of three levels.
The first is the combat control group at the National Defense Control Center in Moscow. He is engaged in the collection and processing of information and daily reports to the top Russian military leadership.
The second is the command of a grouping of troops in Syria. It is responsible for the coordinated actions of the Aerospace Forces and various ground units, and also interacts with regional military centers in Jordan, Turkey, Israel, and Qatar.
The third is precisely the operational groups of advisers in tactical areas from senior officers and generals. They work with the formations of the Syrian armed forces - corps, divisions, brigades, and also help plan and coordinate operations with the involvement of various pro-government formations. A few months ago, a photo of a certificate and an order to award the medal "For a special operation" to Simon Ibrahim Al-Waqil (one of the commanders of the National Defense Forces militia) appeared on social networks, signed by the commander of the Syrian 5th Assault Volunteer Corps - Commander of the 49th combined arms army Southern Military District of the RF Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Sergei Sevryukov.
Former commander of the 58th Army armed forces Russian Federation, Lieutenant General Viktor Sobolev, especially for the site:
YouTube
In fact, there are no rules that would regulate the number of military guards of a military adviser and his presence in the disposition of troops. The distance at which the command post should be deployed is regulated by statutory documents, but the configuration of the front is constantly changing, especially when fighting against irregular formations. Accordingly, the situation is changing rapidly. The commander, if he is an adviser, should be next to the one he advises - the commander of a division or corps. For example, in South Ossetia, the commander of the army, Lieutenant General Anatoly Khrulev, was injured during the shelling of a column. In principle, he was not supposed to be there, but he wanted to see everything with his own eyes.
Of course, the death of the chief adviser and commander of the army is an extraordinary case, but, unfortunately, the situation in the war changes quickly, especially when it comes to the Syrian desert. And the enemy and his special services are on the alert, of course, they want to inflict damage, especially since with good guidance from mortars, you can conduct fairly targeted fire at targets several kilometers from the line of direct fire contact.
We have almost all the commanders of the armies and even the districts went through Syria. On the one hand, they, of course, acquire invaluable combat experience. As Suvorov said, for one beaten they give two unbeaten. On the other hand, in my opinion, it is not very good that the commanders abandon their formations and go for quite a long time to lead operations that are carried out by no one knows who - the Syrian army units, or what is left of them, militias, etc.
The situation is changing rapidly
In Syria, the advanced is everywhere - therefore, the probability of getting a mortal wound there anywhere is quite high. Yes, for the time civil war many Iranian brigadier generals of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps died in Syria. However, "brigadier general" is a rank that has no analogues in Russia, something between a colonel and a major general. That is, this is a senior officer, the primary general rank in a number of armies of the world. Another thing is that the eastern armies differ from the western ones mainly in that in the first great importance has the factor of faith, namely martyrdom. For example, in the Islamic tradition, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad - Imam Hussein - bears the title of "lord of the martyrs." And the person who died for his faith instantly becomes like Imam Hussein, he becomes a national hero.
Also in Syria, the US military has repeatedly died, who advise the fighters of the Kurdish-Arab alliance "Syrian Democratic Forces" in battles with IS and themselves take part in military operations. For example, in 2016, the Pentagon reported that a soldier was fatally wounded after an improvised explosive device detonated near the city of Ain Issa in the province of Raqqa. Another thing is that when training and commanding the local population fighting against radical formations, the Americans rely on their special forces fighters.