Over 100 Russian Servicemen Killed in Syria in 3 years
"As of today, the losses of our armed forces in Syria stand at 112 people, with the crashes of An-26 and Il-20 accounting for about a half of them," Viktor Bondarev, chairman of the defense and security committee of Federation Council, upper house of the Russian parliament, and former commander of Russia’s aerospace forces, told journalists in Moscow, Anadolu Agency reported.
"Material losses include eight planes, seven helicopters and, probably, one or two armored personnel carriers and armored motorcars," he added, according to TASS news agency.
On March 6, a Russian An-26 military transport plane crashed in Syria killing all 39 people on board.
On Sept. 18, Russia said one of its Il-20 military aircraft, with 15 servicemen aboard, was downed accidentally by Syria’s Russian-made S-200 air-defense system.
Russia blamed Israel for the crash of the military aircraft.
Russia started bombings against terrorist groups in Syria in 2015, after parliament granted President Vladimir Putin authorization to deploy the country's air force abroad.
