Russia said Wednesday that an army colonel working as a military advisor in Syria has died several days after being wounded by rebel shelling in Aleppo. 

"Ruslan Galitsky passed away in hospital as a result of his serious injuries. Russian army medics fought for several days to save his life," the defence ministry said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.

It said he was wounded in the shelling of a residential area in western Aleppo by the "so-called opposition".