Media outlets affiliated with the country's rebels report that the Russian army is conducting excavations and genetic testing in the cemetery at the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus
The Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus // Photo: AP
Media outlets affiliated with the rebels in Syria reported last day that a large force of the Russian army raided the cemetery in the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus, in order to find the remains of an Israeli soldier buried there.
According to the report, which appeared on the Genoese website affiliated with the rebels in southern Syria, large forces of the Russian military police set up a security corridor in the refugee camp, formerly a stronghold of the rebels and ISIS, and Russian medical personnel began digging in the cemetery and conducting genetic tests.
Some reports speak of a search for two soldiers while others mention only one soldier.
According to a report in Genoa, human remains were removed by the Russians from the cemetery area.
In the past, the Russians removed the remains of Zakaria Baumel, who fell in the battle of Sultan Ya'akov, from the cemetery, after a sensitive operation that also included a risk to the lives of Russian soldiers.
In 2019, the Russians transferred Baumel's remains to Israel, in a special ceremony during Prime Minister Netanyahu's visit to Moscow.
Along with Baumel's remains, additional bodies were brought by the Russian team, but no identification was found between them and the two other missing from the battle of Sultan Yaakov.
