Ukrainian newspaper Delovaya Stolitsa published pictures of the first Russian officer killed in Syria.
Colonel Vladimir Pavlovitch Chalkov was killed by a sniper bullet in one of the Syrian Mediterranean coastal towns. Delovaya Stolitsa provided no additional information as to the circumstances of his death or the exact location except to say that he was killed by a sniper bullet.
Chalkov is the first Russian officer killed in Syria.
At his funerals in the city of Sevastopol, located in the recently annexed Crimea, apparently his family had an altercation with other Russian military personnel who attended his funeral when they voiced openly their opposition to sending Russian troops to Syria.
Chalkov has been a frequent visitor to Syria as part of a contingency of intelligence officers assigned to protect the Assad regime. According to Delovaya, his last trip was last month in August of 2015.
Because his family objected to Russia’s involvement in Syria’s civil war, they have refused to address media requests as a form of protest.
The killing was timed to send a message to all the Russian troops that Syria is not safe for them.
Many more will follow now that Putin has committed troops to Syria the way the Soviet Union committed troops to Afghanistan.
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