Russian Forces Suffer Major Losses in Syria, Commander Fired as Hundreds Go Missing

Russian forces are facing significant losses during battles in Syria, prompting Moscow to replace the commander of its troops in the country, Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) reported on Sunday, Dec 1. The Kremlin dismissed General Sergey Kisel, who had been leading the group in Syria.

Previously, Sergey Kisel faced criticism for his failures during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which led to his dismissal and subsequent assignment to Syria. In his place, the Kremlin appointed General Alexander Chayko, who had already commanded Russian forces in Syria from 2017 to 2019.

According to Ukrainian intelligence, the commander of the Russian Navy, Admiral Alexander Moiseev, has also appeared at the Russian naval base in Tartus.

The intelligence adds that “after three days of successful offensive actions by pro-Turkish forces in Syria, Russian troops suffered significant losses, with some units of the aggressor state surrounded. Hundreds of Moscow troops are listed as missing in Syria.”

The offensive thrust into Syria’s Aleppo governate that began on Nov. 27, is being carried out by a coalition of Islamist militant groups led by the Turkish backed former Al Qaeda affiliated group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

According to reports on some Islamist social media sites, the rebel groups based in the Idlib region – which is said to include members of the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) – had received operational training from special forces troops from the Khimik group of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR). The training team focused on tactics developed during the war in Ukraine, including on the use of drones.

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HUR’s Khimik group was credited with the attack on a Russian military base on the southeastern outskirts of Aleppo on Sept. 15, in which Russian attack drones and “camouflaged improvised explosive devices,” were destroyed according to a Kyiv Post military intelligence source.

At the end of July, Kyiv Post received several exclusive videos and photos showing the continuation of the special operation by HUR units to destroy Russian forces in Syria.

According to Kyiv Post sources in the special service, the Khimik group carried out another complex strike on Russian occupation forces in Syria in late July 2024. This time, the target of the attack was Russian military equipment at the Kuweires airfield, located east of Aleppo.

In early June, Kyiv Post also published exclusive footage of Ukrainian special forces attacking enemy checkpoints, strongholds, foot patrols, and columns of military equipment in the Golan Heights in Syria.

According to Kyiv Post’s HUR source, since the beginning of the year, insurgents with the support of Ukrainian fighters have struck numerous times against Russian military facilities under the control of the so-called Russian Armed Forces Group in the Syrian Arab Republic.