Valery Grigorievich Asapov | |
|---|---|
.jpeg) Asapov in 2013 | |
| Native name | Валерий Григорьевич Асапов |
| Nickname | Primakov(according to Ukraine) |
| Born | (1966-01-01)1 January 1966 |
| Died | 23 September 2017(2017-09-23) (aged 51)[1] |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance |  Soviet Union Russian Federation |
| Branch |  Russian Ground Forces Russian Airborne Forces |
| Years of service | 1987–2017 |
| Rank |  Lieutenant general |
| Commands | 68th Army Corps 5th Red Banner Army 5th Corps of the Syrian Army |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | Hero of the Russian Federation (posthumously) Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" IV class Order of Courage Order of Zhukov (posthumously) Order of Military Merit |
| Relations | Vyacheslav Asapov (brother) Olga Petrovna (wife)[2] |
Valery Grigorievich Asapov (Russian:Валерий Григорьевич Асапов; 1 January 1966 – 23 September 2017) was a Russian military leader who last served as theLieutenant General of Russian Ground Forces. According to theRussian Defence Ministry,[3] he waskilled on 23 September 2017 by mortar fire fromISIL militants near the city ofDeir ez-Zor during theRussian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War making him the most senior Russian officerkilled in action to date in the course of theSyrian Civil War. Asapov's position in Syria was described by the Ministry of Defence as the chief of the group of Russian military advisers inSyria.[4][3]
Valery Asapov was born inMalmyzhsky District,Kirov Oblast, to a working-class family[5] as the eldest of four brothers in the family.[6] He graduated from theRyazan Higher Airborne Command School and was commissioned lieutenant in 1987.[7][8][9]
He began his military career in the76th Guards Airborne Division, based inPskov, having grown to the position of a battalion commander.[7][8][10]
In 1992–1993, Valery Asapov served inSouth Ossetia.[7][11] In January 1995, he was sent toChechnya in Southern Russia.[8][7][12][13] He was seriously wounded during thebattle of Grozny in the course of the firstFirst Chechen War.[14][8] He was operated on four times in various medical institutions and fully recovered a year after, but remained lame.[8][7]
He entered theM. V. Frunze Military Academy in 1997 and took a degree in 2000, whereafter he was appointed deputy commander of the former345th Independent Guards Airborne Regiment that was then part of the peace-keeping force stationed in Georgia's breakaway region ofAbkhazia. In 2001, he was appointed commander of the345th Independent Guards Airborne Regiment.[8] In 2003, Colonel Asapov became first deputy Commander of the98th Guards Airborne Division based inIvanovo and 18 months later he became chief of staff of the division.[14][8] In 2003–2004, he participated in theSecond Chechen War.[8]
In 2007, he was transferred from theAirborne Troops to the Ground Troops and became commander of the18th Machine Gun Artillery Division based in theKuril Islands in theFar East.
In 2011, he graduated from theMilitary Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia. In June, Col Valery Asapov was appointed commander of the37th Guards Independent Motor Rifle Brigade (inKyakhta) of the36th Army stationed inBuryatia.[15][16]
On 23 February 2013, Col Valery Asapov, then commander of the Motor Rifle brigade, was awarded the 4th Class of theOrder "For Merit to the Fatherland" by Russian presidentVladimir Putin.[17] He was promoted toMajor General on 8 May 2013.[18]
In early 2014, Maj Gen Asapov assumed command of the68th Army Corps that was reinstated on the basis of the units already stationed inSakhalin and the Kuril Islands: the18th Machine Gun Artillery Division, and the 39th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade.[19]
In July 2015, he was transferred to theSouthern Military District,[20] and, according toMain Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine as well as other sources, under the alias of "Primakov" participated in theRussian military intervention in Ukraine as commander of theDonetsk People's Republic's 1st Army Corps.[11][21] On 11 June 2016, Asapov was promoted again toLieutenant General.[22]
In August 2016, Lt Gen Valery Asapov was appointed commander of the5th Red Banner Army.[23] Since February 2017, he was sent to Syria, where he headed the group of Russian military advisers, according to the Russian official sources.[10][4][3][24] He was unofficially said to have been assigned to the command post of theSyrian Army's5th Corps shortly before his death.[25][26]
On 23 September 2017,[27] he was killed by ISIS in the course of thefighting near Deir ez-Zor by mortar fire from ISIL while assisting the Syrian army.[4]
He was buried with full military honors in theFederal Military Memorial Cemetery near Moscow on 27 September; the funeral was attended by theChief of theGeneral StaffValery Gerasimov.[24] Gerasimov acknowledged Asapov's ″invaluable help to the Syrian army's command in planning and conducting military operations against international terrorists″.[28][24] PresidentVladimir Putin bypresidential decree, awarded Asapov the title ofHero of the Russian Federation posthumously. He was survived by his wife and two children.
Shortly after his death, Russian deputy foreign ministerSergei Ryabkov said, "The death of the Russian commander is the price, the bloody price, for two-faced American policy in Syria".[29][30][31] At the same time, elsewhere in Syria, Russian air strikes killed at least 37 civilians, including 12 children, in several locations and villages in the district ofJisr al-Shughur in northwesternIdlib province.[32][relevant?]
A senior member of theFederation Council said that there was intelligence indicating the killing had been facilitated by treason and the relevant investigation was ongoing.[33]
On 26 September 2017, Russia's media reported that, according to the preliminary investigation being conducted by the government of Syria, the killing of Asapov was made possible as a result of the leaking of information about his precise location to the enemy.[34]
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