A view shows the Third Vishnevskiy Central Military Clinical Hospital in Krasnogorsk, Russia February 16, 2018. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin
Alex Lockie, Business Insider: Russian military contractors reportedly tried to test the US military in Syria — but they got whooped
* More details have emerged from the massive battle in Syria that is said to have killed hundreds of Russian contractors — and it looks as if they tried to test the US.
* Reports have said that the forces loyal to the Syrian government advanced and fired at a US-held position in Syria and that the counterattack obliterated them.
* It looks as if the Russian contractors and their Syrian and Iranian allies may be too weak to budge the US without getting the Russian military involved.
More details have emerged from a massive battle in Syria that is said to have pitted hundreds of Russian military contractors and forces loyal to the Syrian government against the US and its Syrian rebel allies — and it looks as if it was a mission to test the US's resolve.
Bloomberg first reported this week that Russian military contractors took part in what the US called an "unprovoked attack" on a well-known headquarters of the Syrian Democratic Forces, a rebel cohort the US has trained, equipped, and fought alongside for years.
Reuters cited several sources on Friday as confirming that Russian contractors were among the attackers and that they took heavy losses. The purpose of the attack, which saw 500 or so pro-government fighters get close to the US-backed position in Syria, was to test the US's response, Reuters' sources said.
Read more ....
Update #1: The battle that never happened (David Hearst, Middle East Eye).
Update #2: Russian deaths in Syria: Mystery surrounds aftermath of US attack (DW)
WNU Editor: Were hundreds of Russian mercenaries used as cannon fodder to test U.S. resolve in Syria .... I will admit that originally I had my doubts. But I am now starting to wonder if it could all be true. That in one of the most insane orders ever given in the Syrian war .... Russian mercenaries were told to attack a position manned by U.S. military advisers and backed by the U.S. air force and artillery support .... and all to test how the U.S. would respond. Specifically .... these are the reasons why I am changing my mind. One .... the U.S. is releasing videos of the air strikes that were called in to stop this attack .... Pentagon releases video it says shows airstrike on forces shelling a US-backed position in Syria (Business Insider). Two .... I am reading a number of reports of Russian mercenaries being killed in Syria in the past week, like this one .... Fifteen Russian Contractors Killed In Explosion In Syria (February 15, 2018). Three .... via through Russian social media .... concerns among family members unable to get in contact with their loved ones who are in Syria are rising, and these numbers are in the hundreds .... Russian mercenaries in Syria abandoned by Putin, mother says (Reuters). More here .... Families ask Kremlin to admit Russian mercenaries killed in Syria (Guardian). Four .... reaction from the Kremlin has been inconsistent in the past week. They were first avoiding the story, then condemning the reports, then admitting that 5 contractors died, condemning the reports again, then admitting that 15 Russian contractors were killed elsewhere, then condemning the U.S. presence in Syria as illegal. And now they gone quiet. But this story is not going to go away. I expect more revelations to come out in the coming days.
