US Strikes Kill 100 Russian Fighters In Syria

[DamianTV]

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...soldiers-syria

Following up to last night's bombshell report that at least two Russian mercenary fighters in Syria had been killed by US-led coalition forces, this morning Bloomberg is out with an exclusive, according to which the body count is far greater than had been disclosed: U.S. forces reportedly killed "scores" of Russian contract soldiers in Syria last week "in what may be the deadliest clash between citizens of the former foes since the Cold War", Bloomberg reported.

According to the unnamed US and Russian sources, "more than 200 mercenaries, mostly Russians fighting on behalf of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, died in a failed attack on a base and refinery held by U.S. and U.S.-backed forces in the oil-rich Deir Ezzor region" In terms of total body count, the U.S. official put the death toll at about 100, with 200 to 300 injured.

A few caveats: the Russian operation was not officially mandated, and the assault "may have been a rogue operation, underscoring the complexity of a conflict that started as a domestic crackdown only to morph into a proxy war involving Islamic extremists, stateless Kurds and regional powers Iran, Turkey and now Israel."

In a bizarre deflection of responsibility, Russia’s military not only did not demand an explanation from the US for the deaths, but said it had nothing to do with the attack and the U.S. military accepted the claim. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has called the whole thing “perplexing,” but provided no further details.

“Coalition officials were in regular communication with Russian counterparts before, during and after the thwarted, unprovoked attack,” U.S. Colonel Thomas F. Veale, a military spokesman, said in a statement. “Russian officials assured coalition officials they would not engage coalition forces in the vicinity.”

The deadly fight began about 8 kilometers (5 miles) east of the Euphrates River de-confliction line late on Feb. 7, when adversaries fired rounds and advanced in a “battalion-sized dismounted formation supported by artillery, tanks, multiple-launch rocket systems and mortars,” Veale said. No fatalities were reported on the coalition side and “enemy vehicles and personnel who turned around and headed back west were not targeted.”

Shortly after the attack, al-Masdar reported that the pro-government "ISIS Hunters" released an official statement on Sunday condemning the US Coalition’s airstrikes that killed several members of the Syrian Armed Forces on February 7th.

The ISIS Hunters specifically condemned both the US Coalition and the Kurdish forces that are currently in control of the majority of the northeastern countryside of Deir Ezzor. There was, however, no mention that many of the fighters killed were Russian mercenaries.

...

Full article on link.

---

Oops?

[Swordsmyth]

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...=1#post6587929

US KILLS THOUSANDS OF DOZEN +/- RUSSIAN SOLDIERS VOLUNTEERS

[goldenequity]

TASS

the reason for the incident was an attempt by local "big businessmen currently supporting Bashar Assad"
to seize oil and gas fields controlled by the Kurds, who are US allies.
According to the source, the Russian command in Syria did not authorize an offensive against the oil fields,
which was perceived as a "dangerous initiative".

Data on the losses varies greatly.
A source in the Russian military told Kommersant that the number of Russians killed on February 7 was 11 people.

Reports about "hundreds of dead" are a classic misinformation campaign, which Western mass media are engaged in, the Russian Foreign Ministry told Kommersant.
"We are now checking the information on the victims, including CIS citizens.
If the information is confirmed, we will surely publish it," the ministry said.

http://tass.com/pressreview/989935

[Zippyjuan]

TASS

the reason for the incident was an attempt by local "big businessmen currently supporting Bashar Assad"
to seize oil and gas fields controlled by the Kurds, who are US allies.
According to the source, the Russian command in Syria did not authorize an offensive against the oil fields,
which was perceived as a "dangerous initiative".

Data on the losses varies greatly.
A source in the Russian military told Kommersant that the number of Russians killed on February 7 was 11 people.

Reports about "hundreds of dead" are a classic misinformation campaign, which Western mass media are engaged in, the Russian Foreign Ministry told Kommersant.
"We are now checking the information on the victims, including CIS citizens.
If the information is confirmed, we will surely publish it," the ministry said.

http://tass.com/pressreview/989935

Russia's "unofficial army" known as Wagner?

http://www.news.com.au/world/europe/...2737ff7c6de171

While private contractors have been used by countries like the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan for years, Russian law forbids the hiring of mercenaries or working as one. Wagner’s operations are believed to replicate a similar model of a “patchwork” of forces used in eastern Ukraine in 2014.

The fighters have played a crucial role in helping to turn the tide of the Syrian civil war in the favour of Russian ally and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The secretive deployment also helps keep the official death toll low ahead of Putin’s election campaign next year.

“The Russian people are not very enthused by the idea of an empire that would involve their boys coming home in body bags. There’s clearly a lack enthusiasm for this conflict,” said Mark Galeotti, senior researcher at the Institute of International Relations in Prague.

“By having this military company Wagner, they can have a force they can actually deploy ... but when people die, it doesn’t have to be announced,” Galeotti said.

The Russian Defense Ministry has said 41 of its troops have died in Syria. But according to Fontanka, another 73 private contractors have been killed there.

The news organisation has obtained what it described as Wagner’s spreadsheets and recruitment forms that indicate thousands of Russians have fought in Syria. Of about 3000 Wagner employees deployed to Syria over the years, the single largest contingent at a given time has been about 1500, said Fontanka reporter Denis Korotkov. Since 2015, at least 73 of them have died, he said.

The CIT put the number of private contractor deaths at 101. Both outlets say those are conservative estimates.

“The most important proof is people, dead and alive, who have said they are mercenaries and their relatives say there are mercenaries,” said CIT founder Ruslan Leviev.

“How would hundreds of people all over the country collude and come up with the same story?”

In 2016 Evro Polis listed the sale of food products as its core activities, according to the Spark Interfax database. But this year, it listed mining, oil and gas production, and opened an office in the Syrian capital of Damascus. The AP obtained a copy of a 47-page contract between Evro Polis and Syria’s state-owned General Petroleum Corp which said the Russian company would receive 25 per cent of the proceeds from oil and gas production at fields its contractors capture and secure from Islamic State militants.

[charrob]

Russia Confirms Several Dozen Citizens Killed in US Strike:

Slain Included Many Citizens of Former Soviet States

Russia’s Foreign Ministry offered a surprising confirmation on Tuesday, saying that indeed “dozens” of the people killed in a recent flurry of US strikes against pro-government forces in Syria were either Russian citizens or citizens of other former Soviet states.

Reports are that hundreds of people were killed in the US attack on February 7, which the Syrian government described as a “massacre.” The slain were contractors for the ChVK Wagner company, which is employed by Syria’s government.

Russia has insisted that none of the slain were Russian military personnel, but had previously said only five Russian citizens were killed. As recently as yesterday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was calling reports of more Russians killed false propaganda.

US officials said that the killings were done “in self defense.” They suggested that the contractors had fired shots about half a kilometer from a base US troops were stationed at, and that they responded with intense shelling and strikes.

https://news.antiwar.com/2018/02/20/...-in-us-strike/

[AZJoe]

[Jan2017]

Within 5 feet over the Black Sea - redlines crossed everywhere else?

Russian Military Jet Comes Within 5 Feet of U.S. Plane on Black Sea, Performs 'Unsafe' Intercept: Report

http://www.newsweek.com/russian-mili...tercept-794147

[Jan2017]

Oops?

According to those accounts, many more Russians had been killed in the battle -- 100, 200, 300 or as many as 600.
An entire unit, it was said, had been wiped out and the Kremlin wanted to cover it up.
Recordings of alleged fighters even popped up apparently confirming these horrendous losses.

Words are important . . . "US air strikes" - or - "battles" (?)

The Truth About the Russian Deaths in Syria
Hundreds of Russian soldiers are alleged to have died in U.S. airstrikes at the beginning of February. Reporting by DER SPIEGEL
shows that events were likely very different.

. . . first photographic documentation of one of the most mysterious battles yet in this increasingly complex war.

And what really happened that night in the small, half-deserted villages on the east bank of the Euphrates River?

A team of DER SPIEGEL journalists spent two weeks interviewing both witnesses to, and participants in, the battle. The team also spoke to a staff member at the only hospital in Deir ez-Zor as well as an employee of the local military airport in an attempt to get a clear picture of exactly what took place during the three-day battle.
The accounts largely corroborate each other and the image of events that emerges is one that contradicts what has been reported in the Russian and international media.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...ian_civil_war/

[AZJoe]

Within 5 feet over the Black Sea - redlines crossed everywhere else?
Russian Military Jet Comes Within 5 Feet of U.S. Plane on Black Sea, Performs 'Unsafe' Intercept: Report
http://www.newsweek.com/russian-mili...tercept-794147

Yes also very belligerent and reckless of the empire, though it wasn't in Syria. So which of the avenues in the Syria outlined in the clip are you predicting?

[DamianTV]

If they can get Russia to attack the US first, they will have validation for their next war. And believe me, war with Russia is on the table. It IS the plan. They are desperate for ANY excuse to continue their debt and death paradigm.

Expect full $#@!ing well to see WWIII in our lifetime.

[Swordsmyth]

If they can get Russia to attack the US first, they will have validation for their next war. And believe me, war with Russia is on the table. It IS the plan. They are desperate for ANY excuse to continue their debt and death paradigm.

Expect full $#@!ing well to see WWIII in our lifetime.

Depending on your age you may live to see WWIV or even WWV, the only question is can we avoid being involved.

[DamianTV]

Depending on your age you may live to see WWIV or even WWV, the only question is can we avoid being involved.

WWIV will be fought with sticks and stones. If WWIII does break out, I dont think there is a country on this planet that will not be devastated by it. Putin already said if the US attacks Russia, he WILL use nukes.

[Jan2017]

Depending on your age you may live to see WWIV or even WWV, the only question is can we avoid being involved.

Einstein said he didn't know what weapons would be used in WWIII, but that WWIV would be with sticks and stones.

There won't be much left with a 300 nuclear missile attack-counteroffensive between the Big Bear and Uncle Sam (only about one quarter or one-fifth of the warheads) - plenty left in reserve but - little population or infrastructure to support remaining still alive population pockets.

OK, I'll chime in that - imho - there were no neutral countries in WWII.
fer' instance, "neutral" Portugal had a British landing strip out on it's island out in the Atlantic. Germans were also similarly using "neutral" Norway to make/experiment with heavy hydrogen.

So, can we avoid being involved (?)
With a vast armaments industry, we are already involved - making weapons of mass destruction for some side, right ? . . .
But in the remote possibility we are not "involved" in a WWIII scenario started in say, a Pakistan v. India nuclear conflict in which both are Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty signatory states and are presumably in compliance with the treaty . . .

Does the NPT treaty become null and void once a nuclearized WWIII officially starts - nations aren't gonna be subject to inspections, right ?

[nikcers]

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...=1#post6587929

US KILLS THOUSANDS OF DOZEN +/- RUSSIAN SOLDIERS VOLUNTEERS

CIA Director Mike Pompeo confirmed Thursday that U.S. forces killed “a couple hundred” Russian mercenary troops in Syria in a strike earlier this year that he said sent a distinct signal to Moscow.