200 dead soldiers in Syria. “This could end in a military clash between Russian and American troops”

On February 7 in Syria, during fighting in the area of ​​the former El-Isba oil refinery near Deir ez-Zor, American aircraft attacked pro-government Syrian military formations. After some time, information appeared in the media that Russian citizens could also come under attack. The Kremlin, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation denied information about the death of Russian military personnel. However, after checking, it turned out that among the pro-government units that came under attack there could indeed have been Russians fighting in Syria on the side Bashar al-Assad. AiF.ru tried to figure out what really happened on February 7 near Deir ez-Zor.

Eleven to two hundred

The reason for the strike by American aircraft, according to representatives of the International Coalition led by the United States, was an “unprovoked” attack on the headquarters of the Syrian democratic forces(SDF) near Deir ez-Zor.

“We were forced to repel an act of aggression against partners participating in the mission to combat terrorist group“Islamic State,” said the official statement from the headquarters of the American Operation Inherent Resolve.

According to the Pentagon, the SDF positions near Deir ez-Zor were attacked by a group of up to 500 people, supported by T-72 tanks and mortar fire. Before the airstrike, representatives international coalition contacted the Russian military via the “red line” and allegedly informed them about the impending attack by pro-government forces and possible retaliatory measures.

The US Air Force launched an airstrike against the advancing government forces using B-52 bombers, MQ-9 drones, AC-130 fire support aircraft, AH-64 Apache helicopters and F-15e fighter-bombers. The Pentagon estimates that about 100 pro-government fighters were killed in the attack. The US military did not know who exactly was part of the units that came under attack. According to the Washington Post, among the attacked Syrian soldiers there could be Russian volunteers who are fighting in Syria on the side of Bashar al-Assad.

After this, Western and Russian agencies literally flunked news feed reports of “those killed under Russian attack.” Moreover, data on the number of killed Russian citizens from different media outlets differed radically. If the Kommersant newspaper, citing a Syrian military source, wrote about 11 killed, then the Reuters agency reported about a hundred dead, of which two were Russian. And the American Bloomberg and The New York Times and even reported “200 killed Russians.”

“This could end in a military clash between Russian and American troops”

On February 8, the Russian Ministry of Defense officially commented on the strike. The reason for the incident was that the Syrians did not coordinate their attack with the Russians. Military personnel Russian army there was no impact at the scene. However, the department did not rule out that Russian citizens who were in Syria of their own free will could have come under attack. They promised to check information about the dead at the Russian Foreign Ministry.

February 15 at a press briefing Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that according to preliminary data, five citizens of the Russian Federation were killed. “All this requires verification, in particular and first of all, of course, citizenship - whether they are all citizens of Russia or other countries. I would like to emphasize once again that we are not talking about Russian military personnel,” she said. Zakharova called the information about hundreds of dead Russians a lie. “This is classic disinformation. Western media... There are not 400, not 200, not 100 or 10,” Zakharova said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense promised to once again clarify the reasons for the American airstrike.

“The death of Russian citizens could seriously aggravate the situation in Syria the day before,” says AiF.ru Senior Researcher at the Center for Arabic Studies, Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences Boris Dolgov. “I would like to point out that it has become common practice for American troops to strike Syrian troops who were in contact with US-backed opposition groups. On February 10, 3 days after the incident, a Syrian T-72 tank was destroyed near Deir ez-Zor. Sooner or later, Russian citizens were bound to be among the units that came under attack. Now this has happened." If the Pentagon's vicious practices continue, it could end in a military clash between Russian and American troops, the expert believes. Which, of course, will sharply aggravate the situation not on a regional, but on a global scale.

Neither Russian nor American officials commented on the news of a NATO airstrike on a military convoy in the province of Deir ez Zoher. Meanwhile, as we have already reported, at least one hundred Russians were killed during the bombing. How will this affect relations between the two world powers? which are already at their lowest point today last quarter century?!

War for Syrian oil

On February 7 and 8, in battles near the Syrian town of Al-Tabiya (the oil-bearing province of Deir ez Zoher on the border with Iraq) big number Russian military mercenaries. This information was reported yesterday by the American business publication Bloomberg, and then picked up - with details - by several other respectable Western publications. A video from the scene has been published.

At the same time, journalists refer to officers of the Syrian government army, which is now “cleaning up” the province of Deir ez "Zoer from the last terrorists. It is here, in the Euphrates Valley, that fierce battles have taken place in recent months. The Syrian army, during the strategic operation "Great Dawn", must was to regain full control over the Syrian-Iraqi border, as well as oil fields.

The last major city that remained under the control of militants " Islamic State"* - Deir ez Zoher itself - was liberated in November 2017 by the Syrian military, who acted with massive support from Russian aviation. After this, a humanitarian operation began here: special equipment is clearing rubble in cities and villages, mine clearance is underway, and supplies are being delivered to local residents. humanitarian aid…

The city of Deir ez Zoher is located directly on the Euphrates River, which divides the province of the same name in half. All lands to the west are under government control, and to the east are under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is supported by the NATO coalition led by the United States.

Who attacked first: Wagner or the Kurds?

Head of the Department of Information and Mass Communications of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Major General Igor Konashenkov at briefings he repeatedly told reporters that militants were moving freely from Iraqi territory to the vicinity of Deir ez-Zoher and other cities.

Moreover, according to Konashenkov, foreign mercenaries are now coming from the territory of Iraq en masse to help the militants remaining in the vicinity of Deir ez Zoher - and their “migration” also does not meet any resistance from the NATO military.

Several times, Islamic State militants tried to block the highway between Damascus and Deir ez-Zoer and ambushed Syrian military personnel in the vicinity of Al-Mayadeen. During one of these attacks on February 1, militants killed the chief of staff of the 67th armored brigade of the Syrian army general Khalil Mahfouz.

Such a fierce struggle for Deir ez Zoher is simply explained. The highway connecting Damascus with Mosul and Embil passes through the city ( largest cities in northern Iraq) and further with Iranian territory. Whoever controls the city also controls the transport corridor between Damascus and Baghdad.

As Colonel told Bloomberg Thomas Vale, official representative of the US Department of Defense, on the night of February 7-8, the Syrian military began a massive advance deep into the territory controlled by the Kurds. The attack took place with the support of artillery, tanks, mortars and missile systems volley fire. According to Weil, part of the enemy's manpower was destroyed by return fire and the advance of the Syrian troops was stopped.

Colonel Ryan Dillon reported that the command of the coalition forces before, during and after the clash was in constant contact with the Russian military leadership. And there was no information about the death of Russian soldiers during the battle.

Bloomberg reports that up to 200 people were killed (both Syrians and Russians who allegedly followed with their convoy), and at least 300 were injured.

The names of the four dead were reported by the online group Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT), which monitors military conflicts in Donbass and Syria. According to CIT, the dead are volunteers, possibly associated with the semi-mythical private military company (PMC) Wagner.

It can hardly be considered a coincidence: on Monday, immediately after information about the death of Russian mercenaries went public, a phone conversation Donald Trump And Vladimir Putin. It is not known exactly what the heads of state were talking about. Trump reportedly expressed condolences for those killed in the crash and offered to help with the investigation.

We discussed the rapid deterioration of the situation in Syria with our resident Middle East expert, senior researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Mikhail Roshchin.

“SP”: — Mikhail Yuryevich, do you think that an attack on a military convoy will affect the bilateral relations between Russia and the United States?

- This is the most important thing to understand now - how to maintain some kind of working relationship with the United States in the new conditions (that is, after an attack on our PMC). It is likely that Trump’s call to Putin yesterday was connected precisely with this.

It seems to me that during the telephone conversations between the two presidents, a quiet but serious conversation took place, although not all topics were later made public. If we remember that the prospect of a Palestinian-Israeli settlement was officially discussed, then it is quite obvious that without an appropriate settlement in Syria, it is unlikely that it will be possible to reconcile the situation in the Middle East.

In this regard, I would draw attention to the restrained reaction of the military on both sides, ours and the American one. It seems that both sides are diligently trying to avoid aggravation, although it is obvious that the situation is heating up and has reached a dangerous point, beyond which a direct clash between the parties is possible.

"SP":- The collision has already happened...

- Not yet. Since the PMC was “under distribution”, and not the regular military unit. If this had happened, then further development of the conflict with completely unpredictable consequences would have been possible.

"SP":— It can be assumed that, despite the constant exchange of attacks in information plan, the exchange of intelligence data between Russia and the United States still continues. And they try to avoid direct military contact with regular forces.

— I think with the attack in Deir ez Zoher, the Americans tried hard to show that they have their own zone of military control in Syria, and they will hold it, including in the interests of their Syrian allies. It seems to me that there is a certain interaction at the military level Yes, but we see that in addition to the military, there are other structures, such as the Wagner PMC, that are ready at times to take the initiative with dire consequences.

"SP":— An attack on our military convoy is also an image blow to Russia. And who, in your opinion, Mikhail Yuryevich, will be the main beneficiary of our image losses in Syrian war?

— You are right that Russia has already suffered image losses as a result of the attack on our convoy. At first glance, the Americans and their allies were the winners. Although, to a certain extent, we managed to rehabilitate ourselves during successful air defense operations against Israeli aviation. The Israelis were clearly shown that they would no longer be allowed to fly and bomb in the Syrian sky freely, as before. I hope this will discourage the Israelis from acting with the same impudence.

"SP":— In general, do you think that further “cooling” diplomatic relations Shouldn't we wait for Russia and the USA?

- Note: in the USA today it is the Congress that is constantly trying to worsen Russian-American relations. And Donald Trump, it seems to me, called Putin for this purpose in order to maintain a relatively good tone in the relations between our presidential administrations and governments.

* Islamic State movement decision Supreme Court RF dated December 29, 2014 was recognized terrorist organization, its activities in Russia are prohibited.

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"Private military company Wagner" suffered heavy losses in Syria as a result of actions American artillery and aviation, which covered the ground units of its Kurdish allies. Information about this appeared on the Internet on February 9, with conflicting information about those killed.

On that day, the American television channel CBS, citing an unnamed Pentagon representative, reported that the troops of the international coalition led by the United States on February 7. The story noted that this “was the first time that Russian citizens were killed as a result of an American airstrike in Syria.” There were no other details, and officials declined to comment.

The Russian Ministry of Defense, in turn, stated that militias supporting the Syrian authorities came under fire from the coalition in the province of Deir ez-Zor due to actions that were not coordinated with the Russian military. The department emphasized that there are no Russian military personnel in that area.

10 February some Russian media in their publications they referred to messages in one of the popular Telegram channels, which immediately posted four audio recordings and a transcript of negotiations between witnesses to the American attack. From the negotiations it followed that the Wagner PMC column was first subjected to artillery and then an air strike, as a result of which hundreds of soldiers were killed.

At the same time, the “Wagner group”, for its part, was not supported by artillery due to the fact that it was allegedly disabled by American combat drones, and the soldiers did not have portable air defense systems with them.

“There are 177 killed there, this is only the fifth company. The “Two” was practically not hit, but the “Five” was all destroyed. They were rolled out, ****, by aviation, helicopters and artillery. There, ****, these Kurds and the Americans were trampled. The boys simply didn't have a chance. Almost all of the “Five” are gone, the remains are heavy, now “Tulip” will come, ****, it’s already night, we’ll meet you,” a source told an unknown interlocutor on one of the audio recordings.

“They lined up in a column. And we didn’t get to these ****, three hundred meters, ****, to the positions, ******. There, one platoon went forward, and these stood in a column. And they, in short, didn’t make it about three hundred meters, and those ***** raised the American flag, and the artillery began to shoot at them harshly *******. And then the helicopters flew up and started ******* [attacking] everyone there, *****. So they ran. Just now the guy called, in short, a total of 215 - “two hundred”, *****. A total of 215, it seems like that, *****. There, in short, they rolled out, *****, just harshly, *****, identified themselves, *****. What did our people even hope for? Like, the ******** themselves [will run away], or what? Are they scared, *****? They can’t identify someone at all, there are so many people there. In general, this is how it is. They attacked the standing column simply with artillery, but the infantry did not move forward, they simply attacked with artillery. And ****** [end], here,” said the second.

“” managed to obtain unofficial confirmation of the fact of a clash between Russian mercenaries and American troops in Syria from the lawyer of the International Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, Alexander Ionov.

“According to my sources, about two hundred people died superfluous person. The exact number of those killed will be clear within a few days; negotiations are underway on the presence in this corridor. The column was attacked on the march. It is not completely clear what goals and objectives the representatives of the “Wagner company” pursued when gathering their units and units for the march towards the Euphrates,” said Ionov.

The committee also managed to restore an approximate picture of what happened.

“After talking with the Syrian military, we concluded that our fighters came under heavy fire artillery installations, which covered pro-American Kurdish units. Then two American Air Force helicopters launched a missile and bomb attack on those who had taken refuge behind the ruins. People were simply finished off,” the expert added.

Alexander Ionov views the incident as possible revenge from the Pentagon for the death of American military advisers in the Idlib region following the heroic death of Su-25 attack aircraft pilot Roman Filipov.

“During the attack on our plane in Idlib, the Russian side responded with air strikes against militant concentration points. Perhaps American military advisers were at these points. Most likely, they were among the 30 people whom ours killed. And here, apparently, the Americans showed integrity, decided to take revenge and struck, but not at units and formations of regular Russian troops, and for allies - Wagner PMCs and militias of Syrian origin,” says Ionov.

“This does not change the fact that Russian citizens died. IN Syria is coming not easy Civil War, as they try to present it. There is a war on terrorism in Syria, and, unfortunately, the Americans provide all possible protection to the units of the so-called Free Syrian army, Kurdish units - those who are responsible, among other things, for attacks on our military, for downed planes. The Americans want this conflict to continue, and the bloodless Syrian army has a great need for officers. The people who died there are heroes we should remember. They died not for any corporate interests, but while defending the perimeter from terrorists who have been tormenting the Syrian Republic for six years,” concluded Alexander Ionov.

The reaction on the RuNet to this information is very different: some users believe that all this information is untrue, others are horrified by the number of losses, and users from Ukraine mostly gloat.

The deaths of Russian citizens have not yet been officially confirmed by the Russian Ministry of Defense.

That in Syria last week, between 100 and 200 “Russian mercenaries” were killed under air strikes from the US-led coalition. The agency cites an American official who put the figure at 100 dead and 200-300 wounded, and three Russians who put the figure at 200 dead. Bloomberg calls the incident "the biggest since cold war a clash between citizens of countries that were opponents in it.”

According to information from one of the “mercenary commanders,” dozens of his wounded subordinates were taken to hospitals in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The dead and wounded are mostly citizens of Ukraine and Russia, many with experience of fighting in the Donbass, Bloomberg reported, citing Russian political scientist Alexander Ionov, whom the agency characterizes as “the leader of a Kremlin-funded group supporting the separatists.”

According to the Pentagon, the coalition airstrike on February 7 was a response to an attack by a battalion-sized group of “pro-Assad forces” “supported by artillery, tanks, MLRS and mortars” on a Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) base near the village of Hisham on the eastern bank of the Euphrates near Deir -ez-Zorom. The base, which covers the destroyed Conoco refinery and a large oil field, was home to SDF units and US trainers at the time of the attack. “The attack was repelled from the air and by artillery fire,” said US Department of Defense spokesman Thomas Veal. According to him, representatives of the coalition “were in touch with Russian representatives before, during and after a successfully repelled attack."

The Kremlin, represented by Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov, today said that it does not have information about Russians who are not Russian military personnel who could participate in hostilities in Syria, and forwarded this question to the Ministry of Defense. The Russian Ministry of Defense previously cited the actions of Syrian pro-government forces that were not coordinated with Russia as the cause of the incident near Deir ez-Zor, emphasizing that there were no Russian military personnel in that area.

Moskovsky Komsomolets wrote today, citing a source close to the so-called private military company (Wagner PMC), that 40 people were killed and 72 were wounded near Hisham, including Syrians. A source close to the Ministry of Defense told Vedomosti that the estimates of MK losses are closest to reality.

According to Vedomosti’s interlocutor, most of dead from Russian side was in a convoy of vehicles standing still at the time of the shelling. At the same time, the Russian military command in Syria was not warned about the actions of these forces, most of which on the Syrian side were the ISIS Hunter detachment (ISIS is an organization banned in Russia). Syrian media reported the funeral of 10 soldiers from the Syrian detachment last weekend.

The day before, the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) investigative group, based on messages on social networks, identified the names of five allegedly killed in Syria PMC fighters. This is Alexey Ladygin from Ryazan, Stanislav Matveev and Igor Kosoturov from Asbest Sverdlovsk region, former National Bolshevik Kirill Ananyev and Cossack centurion Vladimir Loginov.

According to preliminary information, the first military clash between the United States and Russia on the night of February 7-8 ended for Moscow agents in Syrian Republic catastrophic and lightning defeat. A massive defensive attack by American stealth fighters, helicopters, combat drones and artillery within minutes led to complete elimination armored columns of the Wagner PMC, which was trying to support the Assadite offensive on oil fields in Syria held by US allies. Newsader collected significant amount information from open sources - the media, social networks and other resources - which provide details of a major battle of American troops against a Russian unit, which turned out to be the most serious losses of personnel for the Russians in the entire Syrian campaign that Russia has been waging since September 2015. The information is based, among other things, on audio conversations between Russian mercenaries. At the same time, the names of the four Wagnerites who died in the US Air Force strike have already become known.

Russian mercenaries from the private military company Wagner were among the militants eliminated by the US Air Force on February 7 while trying to recapture oil fields from US allies. This was reported by the CBS television channel with reference to an official of the US Department of Defense, as well as numerous Russian sources. We can tentatively talk about the first death episode in Syria Russian soldiers from blows American forces. The death toll of Russians is estimated at over 200 people. Moreover, such information likely refutes Moscow’s statement that it did not participate in this operation of supporters of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

"Obviously, we're talking about about the so-called “Wagner PMC”, which operates in mineral deposits in the Euphrates Valley, the volunteer group Conflict Intelligence Team points out in its Telegram channel. - According to Pentagon sources, the real reason The clash began to control one of the oil fields in the area. In 2017, Fontanka reported a contract between Russian company Europolis, affiliated with Wagner PMC, and the Syrian authorities about the “liberation” and subsequent exploitation of Syria’s oil and gas resources.”

“Something serious happened in Syria this time.”

In turn, Igor Girkin, who commanded Russian militants in Ukraine in 2014, confirmed that the Wagner assault squad actually suffered heavy losses during a defensive operation carried out by a pro-American coalition.

“The 5th assault detachment, armored group and artillery unit were destroyed. Near settlement Hisham,” he wrote on his VKontakte account.

“One was almost completely destroyed, the second was smashed into rubbish,” Girkin wrote, pointing out that Russian losses amounted to about 100 people.

Earlier, he noted that, contrary to the official statements of the Russian Ministry of Defense that the “official Russian military” was still “under the guise of Syrians,” “2 tactical units of Wagner were subjected to American air strikes.”

Later, Girkin reported that conflicting information about Russian losses was “constantly changing upward.”

"On this moment It is clear that there are actually hundreds of dead and wounded. Several hundred... Allegedly - as much as 600 (644, to be more precise - and these are only those killed)... Previously, the figures were 215-217 “200x”... And they also report that “not completely” - many people are still listed as missing ... The possibility of such losses cannot be ruled out either - after all, the fighting continues and the bridgehead, which (I have known this for a long time - since December) was captured on the eastern bank of the Euphrates and was controlled precisely by the Wagnerites - has now been practically eliminated with massive support from US artillery and aviation. Perhaps, in addition to the specified column, other units also got it,” writes Girkin, adding that “more and more information is emerging that some unit of the Service was also “distributed” along with the mercenaries special operations Ministry of Defense (MDF)".

“With such losses, “sweeping the garbage under the carpet” (and for Kremlin strategists all people are garbage) will not work completely and, albeit belatedly, the scale of the catastrophe will be known in all details,” Girkin sums up.

The fact that “something serious happened in Syria this time” is also stated on the Telegra.ph resource. According to the author of EZh, on the night of February 7-8, “US troops destroyed the 5th company of these same Wagnerites,” who “moved with an offensive towards the positions of the Coalition forces.”

According to the resource, representatives of the US and Russian command did not have time to contact each other via the “hotline”, usually used in such cases to avoid an accidental collision, so “the massacre began.” As follows from the note, American troops used helicopters, artillery, and then aviation to repel the attack launched by the Russian-Syrian alliance.

“The result is that almost the entire 5th company was destroyed, this is more than 200 people, the shelling began with helicopters and artillery, then the infantry went into action,” the publication says.

It is noted that during the operation, American drones destroyed the artillery of the Wagner PMC, which was supposed to cover the attacking group: “They say that there is nothing even to collect there, because everything was completely bombed.”

According to the Hedgehog's source, after this incident, about 150 wounded were evacuated from Syria: “Three planes: to Moscow and two to St. Petersburg. “Basically, they were all fragmentation, they were just cleared by aviation/artillery,” the author writes, emphasizing that there was no direct clash with the Americans.

Audio conversations: “There were Pindos... First they covered them with artillery”

An audio recording of negotiations between Russian mercenaries has appeared on the Internet, confirming heavy losses as a result of the American attack. The transcript of the negotiations is also quoted by Znak.com, while omitting a huge amount profanity, abundantly present in the dialogue.

“There were Pindos (Americans)… First they covered us with artillery (artillery), then they raised four turntables (helicopters) and launched them into the carousel from heavy machine guns… Ours had nothing but machine guns. In general, they created hell there. The Pindos knew specifically and clearly that it was us who were coming, our Russians were coming to squeeze out the plant, and they were sitting at this plant... There are a lot of missing people,” says the voice in the first recording, noting that “immediately” 200 people died in the first company, 10 in the second and some more in the third.

“Brother, look. There were 177 killed - only the 5th company. 2 was practically not caught. In short, the entire 5th was destroyed, they were crushed there by aviation, helicopters, artillery, and the Kurds and the Americans trampled on them, the boys simply had no chance, almost all of the 5th fell,” says the second recording.

The third recording shows that Russian-Assad artillery forces tried to attack an American armored column that was defiantly raising the US flag, but American helicopters quickly neutralized the threat from the Wagner, which ultimately lost 215 killed. According to him, the “Wagnerites” “lined up in a column” and “did not reach these (positions) meters 300-700.” He pointed out that one of the platoons went forward, while “the column stood still.”

“They raised the American flag and the art began to hit them hard... (“hit”), and then the turntables flew up and started (“smashing”) everyone... Now the guy called back - a total of 215 “two hundredths”, it seems like that, in short they just rolled out hard ... They identified themselves... What did our people even hope for?... (Will they run away)? Will they be scared?” he wonders.

According to the fourth entry, “of the equipment, he says, one tank and one BRDM survived, and all... other tanks were destroyed in the first minutes of the battle at once.”

The WarGonzo resource, which was among those who distributed these audio recordings, wrote that “the artillery was unable to protect the Wagnerites due to the attack by drones” from the United States.

“The artillery was unable to support the destroyed Wagner column for a reason - literally immediately it was attacked by American combat drones and put out of action. The guys had practically no chance - after the shelling, helicopters walked over the remains of the column. There were not even hand-held air defense systems. Few survivors confirm that American flags hung over the enemy trenches,” WarGonzo’s interlocutors reported.

Recordings of negotiations:

https://stolcom.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/WhatsApp-Audio-2018-02-13-at-20.37.14.mp3 https://stolcom.com/wp-content/uploads/2018 /02/WhatsApp-Audio-2018-02-13-at-20.37.151.mp3 https://stolcom.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/WhatsApp-Audio-2018-02-13-at- 20.37.15.mp3 https://stolcom.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/WhatsApp-Audio-2018-02-13-at-20.37.16.mp3

Fight for oil

Directorate 4 channel links the deaths of Russians with the attacks on February 8, when “Western aircraft attacked government troops attacking the positions of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the area of ​​​​the village of Hisham.” It is noted that this happened during the battle for the Koneko oil field, which became the target of government troops, apparently supported by a Russian PMC.

“Despite the fact that it is physically controlled by the SDF, the sheikh of the local tribe promised to give it for use to the Syrian government (and most likely, to one of the Syrian businessmen personally). The result of this agreement was the attack of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), writes Directorate 4. “All parties agree that about 100 people were killed as a result of the attack. Among them are both ordinary soldiers and high-ranking officers and Brigadier General Yusuf Aisha Haider.”

It is noted that “in addition to the SAA servicemen themselves, the Iranian Fatimiyu Brigades and representatives of the Russian PMC took part in the attack,” but Directorate 4 did not dare to judge the number of losses.

“Why did they attack the Americans?”

The VK group, which is called “Project Partisan Mercenaries Survival Tactics Campaign,” says that information about the defeat of the Russian unit by the Americans has been confirmed. According to the group, on February 7, 253 Russian citizens were sent into battle in the Deir ez-Zor area, including the 5th company of the Wagner PMC, as well as certain “SPN MO”, “artillerymen” and “tanks”.

“Of these, 217 died (data updated),” the group said, adding that this information would not be disclosed “on television.”

“USA coalition aircraft with impunity... (destroyed) Russian citizens for almost 4 hours. The Artillery hammered first. Then a Lockheed AC-130 Specter and a couple of helicopters hunted and finished off those who tried to escape,” the authors of the note write, noting that the Russian column did not even have improvised air defense systems. According to them, "most of the dead are a pile of remains" that cannot be identified.

"Very big question is why... (Russian air defense systems - Newsader) did not appear in advance, at least at the preparation stage for this ill-fated operation. Or did someone think that the Americans would suddenly be afraid to show their strength, knowing that they couldn’t formally charge them for it?” lamented the author of the material on the website enotcorp.org.

Meanwhile, a VK account called “TsSN FSB RF” announced “its condolences to all the relatives, friends and acquaintances of the personnel of the 5th assault detachment who died in battle on February 7, 2018, in the area of ​​Syrian Deir ez-Zor.”

“As a result of an attack by coalition forces on a detachment’s convoy, *** people were killed, and an undetermined number of three hundred are in the hospital in varying degrees of severity,” the statement says. - The detachment was attacked by artillery, helicopters that set up a “carousel”, as well as a “Spectrum” artillery battery; in some places the clashes with enemy infantry took place at close range. The detachment's artillery, as well as all armored vehicles, were burned. There simply were no forces and means to counter enemy aircraft. The battle lasted for 4 hours, as a result of which the 5th assault detachment no longer exists as a unit. Those who tried to hide somehow became prey for helicopters. The survivors managed to walk back to the positions of friendly forces.”

Military observer Roman Saponkov commented on the situation as follows:

“According to the Wagner PMC, in general, there is confirmation of an attack on the convoy. But it is not clear how many died. Do the math for yourself. They couldn't all die. In a normal battle, the ratio is 1 dead to 3 wounded. If there was no shooting battle, i.e. the battlefield was not controlled by the enemy, then this will be the ratio. If the battlefield is occupied by the enemy, it is clear that he will finish off/take prisoner the wounded. If you believe the figure of 100 dead, then there should be two to three times more wounded. Those. the column had to consist of at least 300 fighters. We must understand that there should have been no victims, no one who was caught. Those. The column already turns out to be two battalions. This is at least 10 trucks, plus staff vehicles (Lynx/Tiger), pickups, etc. It is impossible to cover such a car at once, the cars will fall out anyway, people will jump out of the cars and disperse. Of course, there is a desert there and it is impossible to hide. But if there were no consecutive air raids, with adjustments from the air (read, finishing), then such losses could not have occurred. If, nevertheless, finishing took place, then this is a different question...”, he writes.

In his opinion, Wagner’s real losses are ten times less than what is stated in other sources.

“Why did they attack the Americans is a big question. Possibly an initiative. They covered them with drones and artillery,” reports Saponkov.

Version American side

As Newsader previously wrote, according to the American side, about 500 people, Russian T-54 and T-72 tanks, as well as artillery took part in the offensive from the Russian-Assad side that night. According to CNN, fifth-generation F-22 stealth fighters, as well as F-15s and MQ-9 combat drones, took part in their neutralization.

“20 to 30 artillery and tank vehicles positioned themselves within a 500-meter radius” of the SDF headquarters before the Coalition could strike them, the U.S. official said. He noted that the United States viewed the maneuvers of pro-regime forces as an attempt to seize lucrative oil fields, which the SDF liberated from ISIS in September and now holds the corresponding territory, CNN reports.

According to the US Department of Defense, over 100 people were killed, while the Americans and their allies did not suffer any losses.

“Coalition representatives were in regular contact with Russian counterparts before, during and after the attack,” a Pentagon spokesman said. “Russian officials have assured the Coalition that they will not attack it.”

According to the American side, the Coalition regarded the attack by the Assadites as an “unprovoked act of aggression” and was forced to respond with massive fire in order to repel the attack.

According to a statement from Coalition headquarters, the target of the Assad regime's attack was the "well-known" headquarters of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), located approximately eight kilometers east of the Euphrates River. The latter serves as a demarcation line between the areas of operations of the United States on the one hand and the Russian-Assad regime on the other.

“In defense of coalition and allied forces, the Coalition struck the attackers to repel an act of aggression against partners participating in the mission to destroy our main enemy - Daesh,” the pro-American Coalition said, referring to the Arabic acronym for the term “Islamic State.”

At the same time, the Russian Ministry of Defense previously reported that on February 7, “Syrian militias who carried out an operation against a sleeper cell of the Islamic State in the area of ​​the former El-Isba oil refinery were attacked.”

“While carrying out their mission, the militias came under sudden fire from mortars and MLRS, after which they were attacked by helicopters of the US-led international coalition,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The department emphasized that the militias that came under attack from the coalition did not coordinate their operation with the command of the Russian task force.

The Ministry of Defense did not provide data on the deaths of Russians.

Pentagon: “The Russians would have told us”

Pentagon chief James Mattis has not officially confirmed that Russian soldiers were killed during the February 7 operation.

“I think the Russians would have told us [about this],” Mattis said, suggesting that Khasham did not have contractors or employees of Russian private military companies, TASS reports.

At the same time, he warned that he does not have accurate information on this score.

The head of the US Department of Defense emphasized that the United States does not consider the incident near the village of Hassham in the province of Deir ez-Zor as a consequence of a failure in the communication lines designed to prevent various incidents between the Russian and American Armed Forces in Syria. He expressed confidence that Moscow was not involved in the incident and was not in control of the situation.

“We have always known that in this extremely complex battle space there are elements over which, I would say, the Russians have no control,” the minister added.

According to information available to Washington, the Syrian forces, which the US-led coalition fired on February 7 near Khasham, were not under the command of the Russian Armed Forces.

“The fact is that someone decided to attack us, and the Russians said that it was not about them.<…>In my understanding, this is not a failure in the communication line aimed at preventing conflicts. I mean, you can’t ask Russia to prevent a conflict in a case where it doesn’t control something, it couldn’t be done,” said the head of the American military department.

He said the incident was puzzling because the Euphrates had been used in the area for “many months, if not years,” as a demarcation line between U.S. and opposition forces, as well as Russian and Syrian government forces, and there had never been a violation of the agreed border before. .

“This line of deconfliction was completely maintained, regardless of what you heard on the news or anywhere else. The Russians always responded to [American signals in this zone], we always responded. It has never [before] been violated as a deconflict line,” the minister assured.

“We're even coordinating ground operations [in the area] on each side,” Mattis said. According to the information he provided, Russian troops were not among the Syrian forces that came under coalition fire near Khasham. “The Russians told us at that time that their forces were not there,” said the head of the US Department of Defense.

Previously, American representatives have repeatedly emphasized that they will protect their own and allied troops in Syria from attack by anyone, and that their only goal in the Syrian Arab Republic is the destruction of ISIS. However, in Lately The United States is increasingly asserting that it will not rush to withdraw its troops from the region and will help local residents rebuild political process, disrupted by years of internal armed conflict between the Syrian government and the opposition.

Kurdish commander told details of the battle

Meanwhile, back on February 9, the Washington Post published an article that cited an eyewitness account of the events - a Syrian Kurdish commander named Hassan. His evidence is not only fully consistent with the picture we have presented of what happened near the village of Hisham, but also complements it with new details, from which an important conclusion follows: the Russian military leadership lied to the pro-American Coalition that it allegedly had nothing to do with the daring offensive operation, which turned out to be the last for many members of the Wagner PMC.

As soon as Hassan (commander, full name which is not disclosed) received intelligence information about the preparation of an enemy sortie, he immediately - at 21:30 Wednesday, about half an hour before the start of the battle - contacted Russian headquarters in Deir ez-Zor and asked him to stop the operation, explaining that his forces did not want to attack the advancing Syrian government troops. In response, the Russians “didn’t accept our proposal, denied everything and said nothing was happening,” Hasan told WP newspaper through a translator. Similar efforts were made by American officers who tried to prevent a collision through " hotline» connections with Moscow.

Despite assurances Russian command, by 10 p.m. enemy artillery and tanks opened fire. The shells exploded half a kilometer from the positions of the American-Kurdish forces, while the Syrian forces were moving closer to the SDF headquarters. Hassan is sure that Russian mercenaries were also part of the enemy unit.

At this point, the US Air Force entered the battle, among which were combat drones and the AC-130 super-heavy attack aircraft - a flying artillery fortress carrying a 105-mm gun on board.

In the midst of battle, still the same Russian officer contact, with whom Hasan had previously spoken, called him and asked him to stop the battle in order to evacuate those killed and wounded during the clash - a clash for which the same officer initially denied preparations.

One of the correspondents who, together with a WP journalist, spoke with Hassan asked him to comment on this contradiction in the words and actions of the Russians, to which the Kurdish commander replied: “How sweet! The superpower doesn’t know what its armed forces are doing.”

The WP correspondent concluded that the US military had demonstrated its overwhelming military superiority in controlled Syrian areas, while Russian-backed forces paid dearly for their unprovoked, treacherous attack.

WP called the statement published by the Russian Ministry of Defense unconvincing, in which it indicated that the purpose of the attack was to persecute ISIS militants. According to the journalist, this is complete nonsense, and even the Russians themselves understand this, because thanks to the actions of the pro-American coalition, not a single Islamic State militant remains in the area.

“One-zero in favor of the American military in the fight against the Russian tactics of the “little green men”, involvement in which can be denied,” WP summarizes.

The names of the dead Wagnerites are already on the Internet

Meanwhile, the volunteer group Conflict Intelligence Team announced that the names of four Wagner PMC mercenaries who died during a US airstrike had been published on the Internet.

“Anonymous Internet researchers reported the death of Alexey Ladygin from Ryazan, as well as Stanislav Matveev and Igor Kosoturov from the city of Asbest, Sverdlovsk region. Regarding Ladygin and Kosoturov, there is information that they previously fought in the Donbass, says CIT. - In addition, we managed to discover a message from the “Baltic Separate Cossack District” about the death of centurion Vladimir Loginov in Syria. Judging by his profile in the VK, Loginov, like Roman Zabolotniy (Zabolotny), who was captured by IS militants, was an active participant in the Cossack movement before serving in the Wagner PMC.”

According to CIT, the fact that Russian soldiers died from American strikes is beyond doubt.

“It is noteworthy that posts about their deaths appeared unusually quickly - usually relatives and colleagues learn about the death of PMC fighters only after several weeks or even months,” the message says.

In turn, leading Russian news agencies confirmed the death of Russian mercenaries as a result of a US Air Force strike. Thus, RIA Novosti, with reference to the coordinator of the organization, Alexander Averin, reported the death of Ananyev during an airstrike by an international coalition led by the United States. Averin stated that “he was not officially a military man.”

At the same time, Interfax, with reference to the website of the Baltic Separate Cossack District, indicated that Loginov actually died on February 7 in Syria. It is noted that he served in the Armed Forces, then in the internal affairs bodies of the Kaliningrad region, and since 2010 he has worked in security companies.

Special clarification: the number of Russian mercenaries killed on February 7 has not been verified and may change in one direction or another as new information becomes available, but there is no doubt about the very fact of the death of the Wagner PMC fighters under fire from the US-led Coalition.