The Russian Defense Ministry said on July 22 that a Russian serviceman was killed in Syria by a self-detonating bomb planted on a roadway.
The ministry said the serviceman was killed near Aleppo when a bomb exploded near a convoy bringing food and water for local inhabitants, which was being escorted by the Russian military.
"Russian contract soldier, Private Nikita Shevchenko died while escorting a column of cars consigned by the Center for Reconciliation in the Syrian Arab Republic," the ministry said.
"He was riding in a car that escorted the column of trucks delivering foodstuffs and potable water to the local population" in the Aleppo Governorate, it said.
"While the column was entering a populated locality, an improvised explosive device the militants had planted by the roadside went off," it said.
Russian military medical workers tried to save the badly wounded soldier, but his wounds proved lethal, the ministry said.
Shevchenko will be decorated posthumously, it said.