Screenshot by CITeam of military site with picture of soldier who made the report of the 3 deaths, and his insignia tying him to the 137th.

Russian war bloggers at the Conflict Intelligence Team (@citeam.org) have discovered a social media report describing the deaths in combat of three Russian paratroopers in Syria. The soldiers were from a division also known to have fought in the Donbass:

According to a social media post, three soldiers of the 7th Company of the 137th Guards Airborne Regiment of the 106th Guards Airborne Division were killed in Syria. This is the first mention of Russian elite paratroopers fighting in Syria. The profile photos indicate that the person who posted the message is an active or former soldier of the 137th Regiment. The soldiers were allegedly killed on a recon mission “in a gorge,” which suggests they were killed in the mountains (possibly in Latakia, north of Russia’s Khmeimim airbase).

A Ukrainian war blogger had previously geolocated members of the 13th Guards Airborne Regiment in Donetsk Region in Ukraine.