Russian colonel 'killed by Islamic State' in Syria's Homs province

A Russian colonel stationed in Syria was killed in a roadside attack by the Islamic State (IS) group in the countryside to the east of Homs, Russian media reported over the weekend.

The military officer was hit by one of IS's "most significant recent attacks" in the region, Russian military blogger Rybar said of the news on his Telegram account.

The colonel was named as Oleg Pechevisty; he had been deployed to Syria months earlier to carry out "special tasks", according to Rybar. 

Pechevisty was killed on the night of May 25 to 26, said the local administration of his hometown of Poporozhsky in its announcement of his death.

Russian channels are also sharing news of Colonel Oleg Pechevisty's death. He previously served as a spetsnaz group commander and deputy commander of a spetsnaz regiment. Since 2020, he has led the spetsnaz department at RVVDKU.https://t.co/nkUFYLV6Echttps://t.co/kzPVVQpNQe https://t.co/Uuz1rqlZl4 pic.twitter.com/yPY9vnAUhB

— Rob Lee (@RALee85) May 29, 2023

Hundreds of IS fighters are camped in desolate areas of Syria where neither the US-led coalition nor the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad exert full control. 

Russia intervened in the war in Syria in 2015, tipping the balance in President Bashar Al-Assad's favour. Moscow has since expanded its military facilities in the country with a permanent air base, and also has a naval base.

More than 500,000 people have been killed in Syria's 12-year-old conflict and millions more are displaced, mostly as a result of Syrian regime and Russian bombardment of civilian areas. Many cities and villages have been left in ruins, and the country is living its worst ever economic crisis.