Syria conflict: Russia confirms first soldier death Published duration 27 October 2015 Related Topics Syrian civil war

image copyright AP image caption Russian jets have been conducting air strikes in Syria since late September

The Russian military has confirmed the death of one of its servicemen in Syria for the first time since it launched its campaign of air strikes last month.

The defence ministry in Moscow did not identify the soldier, who it said had committed suicide.

Family members identified him as Vadim Kostenko, 19, a soldier from the southern Krasnodar region, and disputed the official account of his death.

Russia began air strikes in September to bolster Syria's government.

It started the campaign after President Bashar al-Assad suffered a string of defeats to both rebel forces and Islamic State (IS) militants.

Russia insists that its ground troops are not taking part in combat operations in Syria.

"A contract soldier who served as a technical specialist at the Hmeimim airbase committed suicide while resting after his shift," said a defence ministry statement carried by Russian news agencies.

The statement also said that text messages reportedly found on the soldier's phone suggested that he had taken his own life because of problems in his relationship with his girlfriend.

'He was cheerful'

In an interview with Reuters news agency at their home, Alexander and Svetlana Kostenko said their son Vadim had sounded cheerful over the phone on Saturday, the day he died while working at the airbase on the Syrian coast.

"I will never believe this version (of events)," said his mother. "We spoke every day by phone for half an hour... he was cheerful, happy, and he laughed."

His father said: "We were told he had hanged himself because of a girl. He would never have done it. I know my son really well."

Reuters reports that their son's body was delivered to the family home in a military truck on Tuesday afternoon. Soldiers carried the body into the house inside a wooden box.

Syria conflict - key questions explained

image copyright AP

Why is there a war in Syria?

Anti-government protests developed into a civil war that, four years on, has ground to a stalemate, with the Assad government, Islamic State, an array of Syrian rebels and Kurdish fighters all holding territory.

Who is fighting whom?

Government forces concentrated in Damascus and the centre and west of Syria are fighting the jihadists of Islamic State and al-Nusra Front, as well as less numerous so-called "moderate" rebel groups, who are strongest in the north and east. These groups are also battling each other.

What's the human cost?

More than 250,000 Syrians have been killed and a million injured. Some 11 million others have been forced from their homes, of whom four million have fled abroad - including growing numbers who are making the dangerous journey to Europe.

How has the world reacted?