U.S. Strikes Killed Scores of Russian Fighters in Syria

@Limbo Pete

When am I going to get my yawn gif to respond to this lame duck?
@Limbo Pete

Rat Poster could use this:

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or

This which isn't a yawn but is perfect as it's his hero!

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<Dany07>
 
This reminds me of how many American contracters were killed in Iraq by Russian backed Shia hit squads.

Karma's a motherfucker!!
 
I think Russia likes Israel more and coordinate with them more. Syria is just about having there base and some resource control.

I don't. Iran, syria, and Russia together can move any oil market they want. That alliance means more than just about anything to them.

Putin and Netanyahu are butt buddies, but Russia and iran, like Russia and china, is a marriage built over generations.
 
I'm going to be honest, I just went by the headline there, and what was in the op.

However my response to what you just informed me, is that the Syrian government is the legitimate government of Syria. Which makes the Kurds and US subject to Syrian law. Sounds to me like the US, and Kurds are terrorists breaking the laws and authority of said legal, and legitimate government.

In fact how many international laws are we in violation of by having any troops in syria?
I think I've seen interview in Russian media about that stuff. Guy in interview said that they thought that they will start the attack and Kurds will leave instead of fighting for refinery. As we can see they was wrong.
And from what I understand if mercenaries won this refinery would be turned into property of Yevgeny Prigozhin, not Syria. At least you can find Russian articles that he is connected to this group of mercenaries.
 
These were not Russian soldiers in the armed forces, but rather contract soldiers.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...d-to-kill-scores-of-russian-fighters-in-syria

“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, two of the Russians said. The U.S. official put the death toll at about 100, with 200 to 300 injured.”

Does Russia downplay this like the Turkey incident where the Russian jet was shot down, or could this escalate? Where is @ripskater when you need him?
i dont think @ripskater exists anymore.....
 
What does this have to do with Putin? Isn't this the equivalent of some Black Water dudes getting blown up?

Were the Russian nationals employed by Russian military or what? Kind of read the article, maybe I missed it.
I think their status are kinda strange. Like, they are mercenaries (and this is illegal in Russia and seems like they were few cases in which guys who returned to Russia from Syria/Ukraine went to prison) but I think some guys or the leader of these org received some medals and stuff from Putin like they are some legit Russian soldiers.
Seems like they are mercenaries but owned by Russian government. So if you want to hire them you need to talk to Russian government or maybe Russian government approves their deals. From what I understand they are currently active in Ukraine, Syria and Sudan. And from what I understand government + some Russian businessmans is who pays them (and from you can find in media, they train in Russia in military camp that belongs to Russian government). One guy who fought there says that in Palmyra it was like that - first Wagner's guys enter the territory, then Russian ground forces and then Arabs and camers. He says in the same article that it's wrong to call them PMC because their goal is not to earn, it's not business.
 
If they are individuals who are there for a job, a paid contractor security job, and not under the authority of the Russian government, then these casualties are not considered a loss by the Russian State or an attack on the Russian State.

/Thread. If a Russian air strike killed Blackwater PMC's fighting for the rebels, the American response would probably be the same.

That's the reason many countries will often employ contractors, or at least turn a blind eye to them. It allows them to support causes they find useful without risking escalation.
 
They're not Russian regulars....theyre mercs.


Big big difference. If it was a direct attack on Russian regulars then we'd have problems
 
This reminds me of how many American contracters were killed in Iraq by Russian backed Shia hit squads.

Karma's a motherfucker!!
Russian backed? In Iraq? Can you provide one shred of evidence hell even an article on this. The armed Shia groups were not armed or backed by Russia. Iran yes
 
Attacking a base protected by American forces... Probably not what those guys intended to sign up for.
 
/Thread. If a Russian air strike killed Blackwater PMC's fighting for the rebels, the American response would probably be the same.

That's the reason many countries will often employ contractors, or at least turn a blind eye to them. It allows them to support causes they find useful without risking escalation.
yup, just saw a documentary last night where many guys from the west (sweden, finnland) fight on the side of ukrainians and they are killed all the time on the front, but no one talks about them in the news. these are people from all over the world that choose to fight on someones side (for some stupid ideology or just money). many us-citizens fight in kurdish uniforms etc.
 
Russian backed? In Iraq? Can you provide one shred of evidence hell even an article on this. The armed Shia groups were not armed or backed by Russia. Iran yes

I'll try to locate the info, but there was a certain type of anti armor grenade from russia used by the shia in Iraq against American soldiers.

Here it is, it had a little parachute on it in the videos I saw.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RKG-3_anti-tank_grenade

"RKG-3 grenades were widely used by Iraqi insurgents against American Humvees,[1][2] Strykers and MRAPs.[3] It is mentioned and featured in one of the scenes of the 2014 motion picture American Sniper."
 
Russian toll in Syria battle was 300 killed and wounded: sources
Maria Tsvetkova

MOSCOW (Reuters) - About 300 men working for a Kremlin-linked Russian private military firm were either killed or injured in Syria last week, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (C), Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu (R) and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad visit the Hmeymim air base in Latakia Province, Syria December 11, 2017. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik via REUTERS
A Russian military doctor said around 100 had been killed, and a source who knows several of the fighters said the death toll was in excess of 80 men.

The timing of the casualties coincided with a battle on Feb. 7 near the Syrian city of Deir al-Zor where, according to U.S. officials and associates of the fighters involved, U.S.-led coalition forces attacked forces aligned with Moscow’s ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Russian officials said five citizens may have been killed but they had no relation to Russia’s armed forces.

The clashes show Moscow is more deeply involved in Syria militarily than it has said, and risks being drawn into direct confrontation with the United States in Syria.

The casualties are the highest that Russia has suffered in a single battle since fierce clashes in Ukraine in 2014 claimed more than 100 fighters’ lives. Moscow denies sending soldiers and volunteers to Ukraine and has never confirmed that figure.

The wounded, who have been medically evacuated from Syria in the past few days, have been sent to four Russian military hospitals, according to five sources familiar with the matter.

The military doctor, who works in a Moscow military hospital and was directly involved in the treatment of wounded men evacuated from Syria, said that as of Saturday evening there were more than 50 such patients in his hospital, of which around 30 percent were seriously wounded.

The doctor, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not allowed to disclose information about casualties, said at least three planeloads of injured fighters were flown to Moscow between last Friday and Monday morning.

He said they were flown back on specially equipped military cargo planes which can each accommodate two or three intensive care cases and several dozen less severely wounded patients.

Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, said initial information was that five Russian citizens in the area of the battle may have been killed, but they were not Russian troops. She said reports of tens or hundreds of Russian casualties were disinformation inspired by Russia’s opponents.

The Russian defense ministry did not respond to Reuters questions about casualties in Syria. A Kremlin spokesman, asked about Russian casualties on Thursday, said he had nothing to add to previous statements. The Kremlin said earlier this week it had no information on any casualties.

Reuters was unable to make direct contact with the contractors’ employers, the Wagner group, whose fallen fighters have in the past received medals from the Kremlin.

The military doctor said that a fellow doctor who flew to Syria on one of the recent medevac flights told him that around 100 people in the Russian force had been killed as of the end of last week, and 200 injured.

The doctor who spoke to Reuters said most of the casualties were Russian private military contractors.

Yevgeny Shabayev, leader of a local chapter of a paramilitary Cossack organization who has ties to Russian military contractors, said he had visited acquaintances injured in Syria at the defense ministry’s Central Hospital in Khimki, on the outskirts of Moscow, on Wednesday.

He said the wounded men had told him that the two units of Russian contractors involved in the battle near Deir al-Zor numbered 550 men. Of those, there are now about 200 who are not either dead or wounded, the wounded men had told him.

Shabayev said the ward he visited contained eight patients, all evacuated from Syria in the past few days, and there were more in other wards in the hospital.

“If you understand anything about military action and combat injuries then you can imagine what’s going on there. That’s to say, constant screams, shouts,” Shabayev told Reuters. “It’s a tough scene.”

A source with ties to the Wagner organization, and who has spoken to people who took part in the Feb. 7 clashes, told Reuters his contacts told him more than 80 Russian contractors were killed.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the total of about 300 killed or injured was broadly correct.

He said many of the injured had shrapnel in their bodies that was not showing up on X-rays, making treatment difficult. “The prognosis for most of the wounded is dismal,” he said.

PROXY WAR
Other military hospitals treating the contractors are the Third Vishnevskiy hospital in Krasnogorsk, near Moscow, the Burdenko hospital near Moscow city center, and the Military Medical Academy in St. Petersburg, according to the doctor, Shabayev, and three other people who know dead or wounded fighters.

When Reuters contacted those hospitals by phone on Thursday, staff either declined to comment or denied having any patients evacuated from Syria.

A Reuters reporter visited the Burdenko hospital on Wednesday and spoke briefly to patients who said they knew nothing about anyone evacuated from Syria. Reporters also visited the hospital in Krasnogorsk, and a fifth military hospital, at Balashikha near Moscow, but were denied entry.

Russia launched a military operation in Syria in September 2015 which has turned the tide of the conflict in favor of Assad.

Russian officials deny they deploy private military contractors in Syria, saying Moscow’s only military presence is a campaign of air strikes, a naval base, military instructors training Syrian forces, and limited numbers of special forces troops.

But according to people familiar with the deployment, Russia is using large numbers of the contractors in Syria because that allows Moscow to put more boots on the ground without risking regular soldiers whose deaths have to be accounted for.

Slideshow (2 Images)
The contractors, mostly ex-military, carry out missions assigned to them by the Russian military, the people familiar with the deployment said. Most are Russian citizens, though some have Ukrainian and Serbian passports.

The United States and Russia, while backing opposite sides in the Syria conflict, have taken pains to make sure that their forces do not accidentally collide. But the presence of the Russian contractors adds an element of unpredictability.

PROBING MISSION
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said last week that a force aligned with Assad, backed with artillery, tanks, rockets and mortars, had on Feb. 7 attacked fighters with the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces near Deir al-Zor.

U.S. special forces were accompanying the SDF forces that came under attack, officials in Washington said.

The U.S.-led coalition in Syria retaliated, killing about 100 of the pro-Assad forces, according to the official.

Since the battle, associates of Russian military contractors have said Russians were part of the pro-Assad force involved in the battle, and among the casualties.

Shabayev, the Cossack leader, said casualties were so high because the force had no air cover, and because they were attacked not by poorly equipped rebels, their usual adversaries, but by a well-armed force that could launch air strikes.

“First of all the bombers attacked, and then they cleaned up using Apaches (U.S.-made attack helicopters),” Shabayev said, citing the wounded men he visited in hospital.

The source with ties to Wagner said they told him the force struck by the U.S.-led coalition was made up mainly of Russian contractors, with a few Syrians and Iranians in support roles.

He said that on Feb. 7 the force had advanced toward the settlement of Khusham, in Deir al-Zor province, into a zone designated as neutral under a deal between the Russian military and the U.S.-led coalition.

The aim was to test if the U.S.-led coalition would react. The force advanced to within less than 5 km (3 miles) of the SDF and American positions, he said.

He said that the U.S.-led forces, in line with procedure agreed with the Russians, warned Russian regular forces that they were preparing to strike. He does not know if the warning was passed on to the contractors.

“The warning was 20 minutes beforehand, in that time it was not feasible to turn the column around,” said the source.

He said once the strikes began, the contractors did not return fire because they believed that would provoke even more strikes from the U.S.-led coalition.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...=Feed:+Reuters/worldNews+(Reuters+World+News)
 
These were not Russian soldiers in the armed forces, but rather contract soldiers.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...d-to-kill-scores-of-russian-fighters-in-syria

“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, two of the Russians said. The U.S. official put the death toll at about 100, with 200 to 300 injured.”

Does Russia downplay this like the Turkey incident where the Russian jet was shot down, or could this escalate? Where is @ripskater when you need him?


For any conspiracy call @mcveteran81 he got lots thread and details about escalation.
 
I'm going to be honest, I just went by the headline there, and what was in the op.

However my response to what you just informed me, is that the Syrian government is the legitimate government of Syria. Which makes the Kurds and US subject to Syrian law. Sounds to me like the US, and Kurds are terrorists breaking the laws and authority of said legal, and legitimate government.

In fact how many international laws are we in violation of by having any troops in syria?
Well just be thankfull you live in an Empire evil emlire it may be but still an umpire. Have you seen StarWars?

Empires are inevitable
 
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