Valery Grigorievich Asapov (Russian: Валерий Григорьевич Асапов; 1 January 1966 – 23 September 2017) was a Russian military leader who last served as the Lieutenant General of Russian Ground Forces. According to the Russian Defence Ministry,[3] he was killed on 23 September 2017 by mortar fire from ISIL militants near the city of Deir ez-Zor during the Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War making him the most senior Russian officer killed in action to date in the course of the Syrian Civil War. Asapov's position in Syria was described by the Ministry of Defence as the chief of the group of Russian military advisers in Syria.[2][3]