Russian soldier killed in Turkish shelling in northern Syria: reports

A Russian soldier was killed and others were wounded in Turkish bombardment of northern Syria at dawn on Monday, according to multiple sources.

The bombardment came after a day of violence between Turkish forces - who maintain a military presence in northern Syria – and Kurdish fighters Ankara considers to be terrorists. Several Kurdish fighters were reportedly killed, according to the reports.

Neither Russian, Syrian regime, nor Turkish officials commented on the soldier’s death.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the soldier’s death and the wounding of at least four other Russian troops, as Turkish forces bombed the road linking the villages of Herbel and Maarat Um Hawsh in the Aleppo governorate.

During crossing of Russian convoy | Turkish forces shell positions in northern countryside of Aleppo and hit Russian armoured vehicle#SOHRhttps://t.co/7fBd9V3Syk

— المرصد السوري لحقوق الإنسان (@syriahr) June 12, 2023

The Hawar News Agency of Syria’s autonomous Kurdish administration reported that a Russian vehicle was bombed which led to injuries.

The Kurdish North Press news agency reported that a Russian soldier was killed and three others were wounded.

Late last month, a Russian colonel died in a roadside attack by the Islamic State group in the Homs governorate.

Russia has backed the Syrian regime throughout much of the 12-year conflict. It intervened militarily in 2015 and has since expanded its military facilities in the country with a permanent air base and naval base.

The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, displaced millions and has left much of Syria in infrastructural and economic ruin.