Syria’s chaotic battlefield
Russia: Five citizens probably killed by U.S. strike
After a week of unanswered questions, Russia acknowledged Thursday that five of its citizens may have been killed by a U.S. strike in Syria, the first time Russians have died at U.S. hands in Syria’s chaotic battlefield.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova emphasized, however, that the five victims weren’t Russian servicemen.
“According to preliminary information, five people, presumably Russian citizens, may have been killed in combat, the circumstances of which are being clarified,” Zakharova said in a briefing in Moscow. “Some others have been injured, and it’s still necessary to check whether they are citizens of Russia or other nations.”
Until Thursday, both Russian and U.S. officials said they had no information on Russian casualties in the Feb. 7 clash, which came when pro-Syrian government forces attacked positions of the U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish fighters in Syria’s oil-rich eastern province of Deir el-Zour and faced a ferocious U.S. counterattack.
Zakharova wouldn’t describe how the Russians died, saying the circumstances of the clash are still being clarified. Still, her statement amounted to official recognition that the victims were part of the force that advanced on the U.S.-backed fighters.
This marks the first time that Russian and U.S. combatants have directly faced each other in action in Syria — a scenario Moscow and Washington have anxiously sought to avoid.
Russian forces are supporting the Syrian government in its fight against opposition groups, some of which are backed by the United States, and elements of both sides are fighting the last remnants of the Islamic State group in Syria.
The U.S. military has said it maintained contact with the Russian military in Syria before, during and after the Feb. 7 clash. The Russian Defence Ministry insisted its troops weren’t involved in the clash but said 25 Syrian volunteers were wounded.
Russian news media and social networks have published many reports about the fighting, describing how U.S. aircraft decimated Russian private military contractors who sought to take control over an oil factory near Khusham. Some reports put Russian losses at 200 or more, and a growing chorus of politicians and commentators slammed the Kremlin for failing to acknowledge the casualties.
Other reports detailed how the Russian private contractors get a slice of the revenues for each oil or gas facility they take over, giving a motive for why they might have challenged the U.S.-backed force.