Russian Serviceman Killed in Syria

A Russian serviceman died in Homs province, western Syria, after receiving a fatal wound in shelling by rebel groups on Wednesday, making him the ninth Russian casualty since the start of its military campaign in Syria.

Anton Yerygin was wounded and later died in a hospital, according to a statement from the Russian defense ministry, the Associated Press reported.

Of the nine Russian servicemen who have died in Syria, six were killed during battles with rebel groups, two died in a helicopter crash and one committed suicide, according to Russian official statements.

The shelling took place in Homs province when a convoy of vehicles of the Russian Center for Reconciliation, a group established to help sustain a Russian-U.S.-brokered cease-fire, was shelled by unidentified rebel fighters.

The cease-fire, which came into effect on February 27, is now considered to have collapsed following continuous violations from both sides.

Daraya to Receive First Aid Delivery Since 2012

Residents of the besieged Damascus suburb of Daraya are set to receive their first humanitarian aid delivery since 2012 on Thursday. But it will reportedly only contain vaccines and medical supplies, leaving out much-needed food supplies.

Not one delivery of food aid has made it into the besieged suburb since government forces surrounded the area in 2012. And while residents hoped international pressure would force a change, members of the Daraya local council said on Thursday that the delivery would not include any food.

“People in Daraya need food more than medicine. Most of the illnesses here are caused by malnutrition, so it’s extremely strange for us to receive medicine before food,” Shadi Matar from the Daraya local council’s media office told Syria Deeply on Thursday morning.

Five trucks supplied by the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC), the United Nations and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent are set to arrive to the suburb on Thursday, carrying baby milk, vaccines and medical supplies, Agence France-Presse reported.

“Today’s delivery to Daraya has been the result of the very lengthy and difficult negotiations to allow humanitarian aid into an area under one of the longest-lasting sieges in the Syrian conflict,” said ICRC’s Syria chief Marianne Gasser.

“We must see it as a confidence-building opportunity. But at the same time … we urge all parties in control of situation on the ground to allow more desperately needed humanitarian aid to this town as soon as possible.”

According to the U.N., more than 486,000 people across Syria are living under siege.

Fighting Intensifies in Rural Aleppo

Pro-government forces and rebel groups exchanged heavy fire on Wednesday in the Rashideen area in western Aleppo, ahead of the midnight expiration of a Russian-U.S.-brokered cease-fire in the divided city.

Russian fighter jets launched airstrikes on a number of neighborhoods in opposition-controlled parts of Aleppo, including Bani Zeid, Suleiman al-Halabi and al-Barij, according to a report by Al-Jazeera.

The same report maintains that the Syrian government launched 75 airstrikes on the towns of Khan Touman, al-Eis, al-Khaldiye and Khan al-Asal in the western and southern rural areas of Aleppo.

Along with the airstrikes, the regime forces used artillery weapons on the ground, while helicopters dropped barrel bombs on the towns of Adnan and Hayan in northern rural parts of Aleppo.

Recommended Reads:

• CNN: Russia’s Military Might: Putin’s Foreign Policy in Numbers
• Der Spiegel: Mini-Republics: A Syrian Village Seeks to Survive Amid Carnage
• VICE: This Syrian Architect Stayed Behind to Rebuild Her War-Torn City
• The Guardian: A Diplomatic Breakthrough Is a Long Way off in Syria’s Deadly War
• Huffington Post: Will the World Offer 1m Syrian Pupils The Pen or the Sword?