Is the Kremlin a watchman?

The Kremlin does not have information about the Russians who are not part of the armed forces, who could participate in hostilities in Syria. This was stated by presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov, Interfax reports .

"Let's be aware that in many countries of the world there are a fairly significant number of our compatriots-Russian, and, of course, it is very difficult to possess some detailed information," the press secretary noted. So he commented on reports of possible death in Syria by a significant number of Russians who acted there as employees of private military companies.

“As you know, in this case we operate on the data that concern the military personnel of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, who take part in the operation of the Russian Air Force in support of the Syrian army,” Peskov said. “We do not have data on other Russians who may be in Syria. We recommend that you contact the Ministry of Defense on these issues,” the press secretary of the head of state added.

Peskov also called for the “primary source” of the media reports about the death of Russian citizens in Syria, ”although, of course, these media reports need verification,” the spokesman emphasized.

On February 8, it became known about the US airline at the positions of forces of the dictator Bashar al-Assad, which was applied the day earlier at the village of Hisham in Muhafaz Deir ez-Zor. The Washington Post announced with reference to one of the SDF commanders that the Kurdish command and representatives of the Pentagon before the airline were associated several times with the Russian side and asked to stop the offensive, but the Russian command answered each time that nothing was happening. According to the Kurdish military leader, Assad’s forces on the evening of February 6 began to advance in the SDF position, pulling out tanks and artillery to them. The SDF headquarters at this time also were American military advisers. On Wednesday evening, the dictator troops and Russian mercenaries approached the positions of the rebels at a distance of about 450 meters and began to shell them from tanks and artillery. In response, the United States shot the AC-130 advancing from drones and heavy shock aircraft. It was reported about more than 500 killed.

The next day, the first information appeared about the death of Russian mercenaries as a result of a blow. “Wagner’s tactical units were subjected to attacks by American aviation,” said Igor Girkin, former “DPR defense minister”. According to him, the corpses were taken out of the battlefield under the bell of the two KamAZ. Lawyer Mark Feigin, referring to his sources, Vagner’s 215 dead mercenaries reported.

On Monday, in the telegram channel of the Directory Action, a message appeared about the death under the blow of the Western coalition in Syria of the Nazball militant Kirill Ananyev . In the past, he fought for pro-Russian separatists in the Donbass, and before the Russian-Ukrainian war he was an active participant in anti-Putin protests in Moscow.

On the same day, the Conflict Intelligence Team group published the names of the four mercenaries of the Wagner PMC who died from the American airline air at Syria - Alexei Ladygin from Ryazan, Stanislav Matveev and Igor Kosoturov from the Sverdlovsk Region, as well as the centurion of the Baltic Separate Cossack District (Kalinigrad Region) by Vladimir Loginov. Ladygin and Kosoturov previously participated in Russian aggression in the Donbass. Relatives and acquaintances confirmed RBC the death of all three.