While advancing toward the Tiyas airfield near the Syrian city of Homs, Milyukhin’s convoy was besieged. The major general is currently under the care of medical doctors at Russia’s Main Military Clinical Hospital, RIA Novosti reported. Hospital officials would only disclose that Milyukhin was in the intensive care unit and was placed "in the 56th department."
The Russian Defense Ministry announced on February 16 that a radio-activated landmine intended for a Syrian military convoy killed four Russian service members. The ministry noted that two other Russian servicemen were injured in the blast. This explosion is thought to have produced Milyukhin’s injuries, Kommersant reported. Four of the six troops in Milyukhin’s vehicle lost their lives, the daily paper said.
Milyukhin’s condition has stabilized, Kommersant said, making the next step a trip to Moscow for further medical supervision. At this time, there is "no direct threat" to the high-ranking officer’s life, a medic told Kommersant. Russia has suffered approximately 27 casualties since entering Syria in September 2015, Kommersant said, based on Russian Ministry of Defense reports.
Last week, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s troops recaptured the ancient city of Palmyra with the aid of Russian air support and special operations. The offensive killed over 1,000 Daesh terrorists while eliminating 19 tanks, 37 armored vehicles, 98 pickup trucks mounted with guns, and 100 other combat-support vehicles, according to Sergey Rudskoy, chief of Russia’s General Staff’s operations department.
