“According to preliminary investigation, including the analysis of SMS in his phone, the death of the contractor was caused by the problems in his personal relationships with a girlfriend”, the Ministry of Defense said, according to Russia’s state-controlled news agencies.
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According to a senior Syrian military source who spoke to Reuters, the incident took place near Nabi Younis in the province of Latakia and at least 20 Russians were at the post when the shell struck.
Posts by his friends on the Russia social network site VK.com have also led to a few accusing the Russians of covering up the true reason behind his death. “(On Saturday) he was cheerful, happy, and he laughed”, she said. Under Russian law, reporting on the death of military personnel even in times of peace has been banned.
The government’s quick confirmation of a death of a serviceman is hugely unusual and comes as world attention is focussed on Russia’s bombing campaign in its Soviet-era ally Syria.
The soldier’s Vkontakte page, and that of his girlfriend, were filled with joint photographs and loving comments over recent weeks.
After the family saw the body, Vadim’s younger sister Katya, 14, told Reuters the corpse had marks on his neck and otherwise appeared undamaged.
Kostenko is the first Russian serviceman to die in Syria since Moscow initiated a campaign of air strikes in the country on September 30.
“The man serving under contract at the Hmeimim air base in Syria as a technical specialist took his own life while off duty”. It is unclear whether this was Kostenko. The Conflict Intelligence Team also noted reports by Syrian activists over the weekend claiming smoke was seen rising from the Russian airbase. Western reporters were attacked and harassed when they tried to film the secret burials of Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine.
Russian government officials have long denied and hidden the deaths of Russian soldiers who have fought in the conflict in Eastern Ukraine that began in April 2014 and has taken the lives of more than 8,000 people.
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Russian Federation has ruled out sending ground troops to Syria and now only its pilots are involved in direct combat in Syria in the form of airstrikes. The air operation is now supported by 72% of Russians, a recent survey showed, backed up by state television reports showing the dangers Islamic State could pose to Russia in future. Kostenko will “soon” be buried in his home region of Grechanaya Balka, CIT reported.
