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| Lt. Col. Majed al-Sayed Ahmad making the statement |
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| The IDs of the Russian general (left) and his interpreter |
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| Seized documents |
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| Freij flanked by Kojaev (right) and another Russian officer |
Syrian insurgents have assumed
responsibility for killing a Russian army general serving as an advisor to
Syria's defense minister and army chief of staff.
The high-ranking Russian
officer was named as Vladmir Petrovich Kojaev.
A video statement (see
below) read by Lt. Col. Majed al-Sayed Ahmad, head of Special Operations in the
Damascus Area Military Command (DAMC), said the killing of the Russian general
and his personal interpreter, Ahmad Ayouq, was carried out in Damascus’s
western Ghouta
area.
He said the operation was mounted “by the Soqour (Hawks) subdivision of Special Operations in cooperation
with the Usama bin Zaid Battalion, both of which belong to the DAMC.”
The video showed copies of
the IDs issued by the Syrian military both to the Russian general and his
interpreter.
Gen. Kojaev’s ID, which
carries the serial number 36/5, was issued on June 6, 2007 and signed by the
Syrian army chief of staff. The ID shows he was born in Mozol in 1952.
Ayouq, the interpreter, had his ID issued by the chief of staff office back in March 2001.
In his statement, Lt. Col.
Ahmad said some Syrian army documents were also seized during the
operation, together with reports about the Syrian opposition and the Free
Syrian Army.
Among the documents shown in the video was a letter by the Syrian chief of staff, Fahed al-Freij, who is also the defense
minister, asking the head of Russian military advisers in Syria to extend
Kojaev's mission.
The video also showed a
photo of Freij flanked by Kojaev and another more senior Russian officer in military uniforms.
Syria is home to an
estimated 35,000 Russians.
