The Kremlin denied today reports that 4 Russian military personnel were killed by Syrian rebels supported by Turkey in the Syrian Civil War; the deaths were said to be in the Syrian northwestern province of Hama as militants shelled the area.
“Not a single Russian military serviceman was killed recently on the territory of Syria,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in the statement. “All representatives of the Russian Armed Forces currently deployed in Syria are well and alive and fulfilling their duties,” declared the Russian Defense Ministry, reported Russian state news agency TASS.
“Recent media reports [on four casualties] are another set of fake news,” the statement reads. “Unfortunately, some Russian media outlets are reporting unreliable information, which has been circulated on purpose by militants from terrorist organizations via social networks.”
Estimates vary between 112 and 175 Russian soldiers killed in Syria since Moscow intervened in the country’s civil war backing government forces in 2015, reported The Moscow Times.
The Russian military said earlier on Wednesday that militants had attempted at least 12 armed attacks on a Russian air base further west of Hama since early April.