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Title: US airstrike killed 'dozens' of Russian contractors in Syria [200+ dead Cossacks?]
Source:
HotAir
URL Source: https://hotair.com/archives/2018/02 ... strikes-killed-russians-syria/
Published: Feb 13, 2018
Author: John Sexton
Post Date: 2018-02-13 19:56:31 by Tooconservative
Keywords: None
Views: 2924
Comments: 45
The men were working for a private Russian company called Wagner, which has sent hundreds of private contractors to Syria to help both the Russian military and pro-regime forces, according to people who knew them. One of the dead was 51-year-old Vladimir Loginov. Like many contractors who have gone to Syria, he was a member of a Cossack group of ultranationalists who have also fought in eastern Ukraine. The exact number of Russians killed in the airstrike is unclear. Reuters reported yesterday that “dozens” had died, though that was unconfirmed. The New York Times also suggested dozens of Russians were killed in a report today: A Syrian military officer said that about 100 Syrian soldiers had been killed in the fighting on Feb. 7 and 8, but news about Russian casualties has dribbled out only slowly, through Russian news organizations and social media. However, Bloomberg is reporting today that more than 200 Russian contractors died in the strike: “This is a big scandal and a reason for an acute international crisis,” said Vladimir Frolov, a former Russian diplomat and lawmaker who’s now an independent political analyst. “But Russia will pretend nothing happened.” Fox News adds that a Reaper drone also destroyed a Russian made T-72 battle tank on Saturday in the same area, three days after the airstrike that killed the Russian contractors. As for why deconfliction efforts between the U.S. and Russia didn’t prevent this, Voice of America reports the U.S. was in contact with Russia before, during and after the airstrike but the Russians had no control over the contractors: He called the attack a “perplexing situation,” adding that he could not give “any explanation for why” the pro-government forces would attack a well-established SDF headquarters… When pressed on why the U.S. considered the communication a success when it did not prevent the pro-government force attack, Mattis told reporters on Thursday, “You can’t ask Russia to deconflict something they don’t control.” “The fact that somebody chose to attack us, and the Russians are saying, ‘’It’s not us,’ and we are firing on them to stop the artillery fire, that, to me, is not a failure of the deconfliction line,” Mattis explained. Putin has emphasized that no uniformed Russian soldiers were killed in the strike. Grigory Yavlinsky, a politician running for president in Russia, called on Putin to reveal exactly how many Russians were killed in Syria. “If there was large-scale loss of life of Russian citizens, the relevant officials, including the commander-in-chief of our armed forces (Putin), are obliged to tell the country about it and decide who carries responsibility for this,” he said. Poster Comment: Cossack mercs. U.S. airstrikes in Syria killed 100 pro-regime forces including an unknown number of Russian contractors who were fighting alongside them. The conflict started when a force of around 300-500 soldiers armed with Russian made tanks and artillery came across the Euphrates River and began firing on a Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) base. There were American advisers at the SDF base who called in an airstrike. From CNN: Several Russians who had been hired as paramilitary contractors were among more than 100 men killed in US airstrikes in northern Syria last week, according to their friends and families. Four Russian nationals, and perhaps dozens more, were killed in fighting between pro-government forces in eastern Syria and members of the United States-led coalition fighting the Islamic State, according to Russian and Syrian officials. More than 200 contract soldiers, mostly Russians fighting on behalf of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, died in a failed attack on a base held by U.S. and mainly Kurdish 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… U.S. military officials said the coalition was in contact with Russia before, during and after Wednesday’s attack and had alerted Russia to the presence of SDF forces in that area…
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#6. To: paraclete (#5)
You are right. Cossacks are expendables, though usually operating on the outer fringes of the Russian empire or USSR or Russia's CIS (as in Ukraine). I agree. And it is clear Assad will win, if only because Iran and Russia are determined to not allow him to fail. And we don't match their determination. We are protecting Kurds in northern Syria from Turks and from Assad. But we have to keep in mind that both Turks and Assad have good reason to dislike these Kurds, the radical terrorist YPG faction, not the far more peaceful and reasonable Kurds of northern Iraq who have been so impressive and even admirable over the last decade or so.
I'd say no survivors. A Russian T-72 that was destroyed by our jets.
It is time to do as america has done before, abandon their native retainers before they are drawn into a wider conflict. The kurds cannot be allowed to gain territory, neither Russia, Turkey or Assad will allow this. the kurds had to back off forming their own state in Iraq and they must back off here
I'm sure the Russians were smart enough to put Arabs in the tanks. If that is the case they bailed out on the first site of contact. At least that has been my experience fighting Arab armies. Most of the tanks we destroyed in the Gulf War were empty. First round of M1A1 smoothe bore and hundreds stopped their tanks and jumped out. Unfortunately when they bailed out there were already artillery rounds in the air (time of flight can ruin a day). You can't call those back. Couldn't touch BBQ for months after that.
Unfortunately when they bailed out there were already artillery rounds in the air (time of flight can ruin a day). You can't call those back. Couldn't touch BBQ for months after that. Great anecdote. Even if you think you are hardened to this stuff, no one (who isn't a psychopath) really is. Not that I feel bad. You know they were planning a complete massacre of the Kurds and their American advisors.
I think it was Russian tactics "probing by fire". The objective was to learn what the other side got.
Cossacks are Ukrainians, not Russians.
Not exactly, Cossacks are Cossacks.
"Ukraine's glory has not yet perished, nor her freedom, Upon us, fellow compatriots, fate shall smile once more. Our enemies will vanish, like dew in the morning sun, And we too shall rule, brothers, in a free land of our own. Souls and bodies we'll lay down, all for our freedom, And we will show that we, brothers, are of the Cossack nation! Souls and bodies we'll lay down, all for our freedom, And we will show that we, brothers, are of the Cossack nation!"
And Bolsheviks are Bolsheviks. But who are THEY?
It was the Cossack mercs who got "probed". I'd love to see video if they used the Warthogs on them. Too bad we don't have any footage. Of course, these might not be Cossacks at all. They could be mercs of various stripes, as we saw in Ukraine. Men with military experience who are escaping justice in Russian courts, men who are members of Chechen and other expatriate communities living in Iraq or Syria. Or even regular Russian troops "on leave" from their regular duties. We saw all of those in Iraq/Syria and Ukraine. Saying it was "Cossacks" may be deflecting from who they really were.
A Pole is right. Cossacks are Cossacks. They have operated as Russian mercs at the outer regions of Russia for centuries for both tsars and Soviet commissars and now for Russia's CIS. They guarded the frontiers of the Russian empire and kept the various populations in line. They became a special military class, somewhat like the Prussians did in Germany.
Interesting video. It certainly sounds like Americans singing that tune. They aren't even faking a Brit accent or singing with accents of eastern Europe. Blue skies I did notice that they used the same exact graphics you've been posting to LF this last month. Are you in some way connected with the people producing this video? You seem to be connected to them or very much in agreement with them. And just who are the musicians who produced this song? They aren't identified that I can see. Hopefully this group will produce more music, work on their vids, lyrics and musical structure. They have what it takes if they work hard enough and make the right connections and find their moment culturally.
Author of this words Chubynsky, did not consult Cossacks, and was closer to the Polish nobility than to them.
It's a mystery. Rumor has it the recording was transcribed from 1s and 0s etched into a colossal clay tablet discovered in a cave near Dovbrush. Evidently the Dovbrushians thought it was barbed enough.
These Singing Cossacks don't seem to mind not having been consulted...
Music was made by a Greek Catholic priest from today's south-eastern Poland.
I can't find any Dovbrush. Are you signifying the famous Ukrainian outlaw and folk hero, Oleksa Dovbush? He was a legendary Robin Hood type, taking from the rich, giving to the...yeah, right. Here's his supposed lair, now a tourist attraction.
I can't quite imagine what a Greek Catholic priest in Poland even is. Not that I doubt you. The culture and religion and history of these countries becomes pretty confusing to white-bread Americans like me.
Doesn't seem to matter to these Cossacks singing their national anthem.
Has the feel of Klingolutheran craftsmanship if you ask me.
American religion scene is much much more complex.
I was trying to avoid discussing that... LOL
Oh, c'mon. We can't hold a candle to Europe's cultural/religious/tribal conflicts. It's not even close. For one thing, our system has features designed to prevent those sorts of problems over the centuries. Our Founders weren't blind to the many excesses of European history from popery or monarchy or tribalism. Americans are very simple creatures by comparison.
Neither could the Dovbrushians when they were looking for his tomb near Auuuuuuuuugh It happens.
Yep. And besides that one time when the Mormons tried to elect themselves a king - we've never had some Sunny charlatan prancing around the countryside banging coconuts together, either...
Give them time, the Lefties will come up that too. It wouldn't be the craziest crap they've tried.
These guys have nothing to do with Cossacks. They are mostly radicals from Western Ukraine (that was for many centuries subject to Polish rule until WWII) Here is hymn of Don Cossacks:
Ich bin ein Cossack!
I saw a bit more reporting at RedState: They were met with pretty much everything but the kitchen sink: In yesterday’s article I speculated: If this incursion across an agreed upon deconfliction line had succeeded, then you would have seen more and more of this happening. Right now it is pretty clear that the Russians called the shots here and it is equally clear that they did not want a direct confrontation with the U.S.: The fact that the wounded from this adventure are now being treated in Russian military hospitals in Russia indicates they had some type of official imprimatur and were not a rogue operation. What to look for next? They’ll try something different to achieve the same goal. It could be kidnapping U.S. advisers or trying to recreate the Beirut Marine Barracks bombing using Iranian proxies. I could be guerrilla-style operations against supply lines for U.S. forces. It could be creating a situation where U.S. firepower creates friendly casualties, military and/or civilian. But they clearly understand that U.S. advisers are the Clausewitzian “center of gravity” for the anti-Assad forces and they will try to drive a wedge between us and them or drive us out. I'm wondering how they brought B-52s and AC-130s to bear so quickly if it was a surprise attack. And they wouldn't be treating Arabs in Russian military hospitals, if that reporting is correct. If they brought artillery, they intended to murder everyone at the target site. Except we killed them first. Good for us.
I went looking for more coverage on this battle, mostly hoping for some great artillery strikes or nice airstrikes. Alas. But I did notice something else. Former MSNBC host Ed Schultz is now a major mouthpiece on Russia's RT network! And he's been there, working for the Russians, since January 2016. Comrade Schultz is finally working openly for his Soviet masters. It must be a dream come true. Even if he makes only a tiny fraction of what he made working for PMSNBC. In case you're forgotten who he is: I notice that YouTube is now putting a small notice below each RT video: I know, how shocking to learn that RT is funded by the Russian government. Who could have guessed?!! Next thing you know, someone might accuse PBS of being funded by the American government. Anyway, stumbling over poor Ed's corpse still broadcasting at RT fulfilled my Rest-Of-The-Story fetish so I had to share...
Up is down, down is up... www.google.com/search?q=who+armed+isis+clinton ...and Hillary still isn't in jail.
The B-52s have been converted for Close Air Support (CAS) roles. We did this in 2007 timeframe in Afghanistan. Loads of loiter time over a target area and loads of bombs. I would gather the B-52 was on station at the time. Once the advisors knew what was coming they probably called for the air and/or ground alert birds. When someone said tanks I'm sure more aircraft were called to sortie in 30-60 min intervals. The AC-130 is interesting. They are owned by Special Operations Command. The advisor team was probably SF and the JTAC SF too. So it's not odd for them to use the Spooky but odd to use it during the day. Unless night fall happened when the Spooky came in. But in dire straits they do. They did in a situation we had in Iraq in early 2007.
Yes this was an @ss whooping. Don't mess with US Joint Firepower.
The commanding advisor was identified as special forces, a confident impressive guy. He was in one of the videos. The accounts I've read were that the battle lasted three hours and occurred during the day.
Met the guy with the ponytail. LOL he's more than just a state dept employee.
He wasn't all that bad in this segment. I don't know his other work. I got the impression of a fairly standard neoliberal/neocon CFR mouthpiece. Looking around, he was a big anti-FATCA voice. He was a former foreign policy advisor to somebody (or a bunch of somebodies) among the GOP Senate. And now he's perched at an NGO in Ukraine (gee, I wonder what that means, lol). Was he impressive at all? Some of the Foggy Bottom types are very odd ducks. Remember that weirdo that 0dinga had on his team? Yikes. He could appear on those Ancient Aliens shows.
Pony tail dude used to be black OPs SOF. At least when introductions were made and I asked why I should listen to him this is what I was told. Could be a dead ringer for someone else and would not discount that. He wore the civilian type combat trousers and sandals with white socks.
When I was working an R&D job in DoD we had a Brit genius nuclear scientist visit our agency. Dude had red hair and it was arranged like Dracula in the modern version of the movie. To think the Brits trusted this guy with their nuclear secrets.
Wouldn't be the first time the Brits failed due diligence in national security. Britain has a better chance of keeping something secret if they don't classify it.
I would image Russians would consider Cossacks expendable as they have been for centuries, whereas you obviously think Americans are not expendable.
Syria has a right to recover its territory, even though the regime may have undesirable characteristics. It is time to stop the fighting in Syria, IS is defeated, so the US staying there is a false flag operation
#7. To: All, redleghunter (#0)
#8. To: Tooconservative (#6)
#9. To: Tooconservative (#7)
I'd say no survivors. A Russian T-72 that was destroyed by our jets.
#10. To: redleghunter (#9)
(Edited)
First round of M1A1 smoothe bore and hundreds stopped their tanks and jumped out.
#11. To: Tooconservative (#3)
It may be that this was some bunch of Cossack mercs
#12. To: Tooconservative (#0)
#13. To: VxH (#12)
Cossacks are Ukrainians, not Russians.
#14. To: A Pole (#13)
#15. To: A Pole (#13)
Cossacks are Cossacks
#16. To: A Pole (#11)
I think it was Russian tactics "probing by fire". The objective was to learn what the other side got.
#17. To: VxH, A Pole (#12)
Cossacks are Ukrainians, not Russians.
#18. To: VxH, A Pole (#15)
over yellow fields
under Red Shield.
Returned.
While we said nothing.
Poetic enough and not bad musically but it lacks adequate "hooks" to become popular IMO. I did like the imagery generally.
#19. To: VxH (#14)
we will show that we, brothers, are of the Cossack nation!
#20. To: Tooconservative (#18)
And just who are the musicians who produced this song?
lacks adequate "hooks" to become popular IMO.
#21. To: A Pole (#19)
Author of this words Chubynsky, did not consult Cossacks
#22. To: VxH (#20)
#23. To: VxH, A Pole (#20)
#24. To: A Pole (#22)
Music was made by a Greek Catholic priest from today's south-eastern Poland.
#25. To: A Pole (#22)
Music was made by...
#26. To: Tooconservative (#23)
(Edited)
#27. To: Tooconservative (#24)
The culture and religion and history of these countries becomes pretty confusing to white-bread Americans like me.
#28. To: VxH (#26)
Has the feel of Klingolutheran craftsman ship if you ask me.
#29. To: A Pole (#27)
American religion scene is much much more complex.
#30. To: Tooconservative (#28)
(Edited)
I can't find any Dovbrush.
#31. To: Tooconservative, A Pole (#29)
(Edited)
Americans are very simple creatures by comparison.
#32. To: VxH (#31)
we've never had some Sunny charlatan prancing around the countryside banging coconuts together, either...
#33. To: VxH (#25)
Doesn't seem to matter to these Cossacks singing their national anthem
#34. To: A Pole (#33)
These guys have nothing to do with Cossacks
#35. To: redleghunter, VxH, A Pole (#9)
. . . On the ground, Air Force joint terminal attack controllers embedded with the SDF called in precision strikes for more than three hours from aircraft and ground artillery, directing F-15Es, MQ-9s, B-52s, AC-130s and AH-64 Apaches to release multiple precision fire munitions and conduct strafing runs against the advancing aggressor force, stopping their advance and destroying multiple artillery pieces and tanks. My guess is that this was an operation designed to grab a U.S. held base as a way of showing our proxies they couldn’t rely on us. The use of Russians was probably intentional and a way of daring us to use US firepower. In fact, the operation was probably based on the premise that we would allow the Russians to go head-to-head with the SDF and without interference. Two Trump administration officials said the U.S used a military hotline to communicate with the Russian side to warn that it was about to launch air strikes. The Russians later called their U.S. counterparts to ask if the strikes had ended so that the attacking force could recover the dead and wounded, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
#36. To: All, redleghunter, VxH, A Pole (#35)
RT is funded in whole or in part by the Russian government.
#37. To: Tooconservative (#36)
(Edited)
#38. To: Tooconservative (#35)
I'm wondering how they brought B-52s and AC-130s to bear so quickly if it was a surprise attack.
#39. To: Tooconservative (#35)
Except we killed them first. Good for us.
#40. To: redleghunter (#38)
The advisor team was probably SF and the JTAC SF too. So it's not odd for them to use the Spooky but odd to use it during the day.
#41. To: Tooconservative (#36)
Anyway, stumbling over poor Ed's corpse still broadcasting at RT fulfilled my Rest-Of-The-Story fetish so I had to share...
#42. To: redleghunter (#41)
Met the guy with the ponytail. LOL he's more than just a state dept employee.
#43. To: Tooconservative (#42)
#44. To: Tooconservative (#42)
Yikes. He could appear on those Ancient Aliens shows.
#45. To: redleghunter (#44)
When I was working an R&D job in DoD we had a Brit genius nuclear scientist visit our agency. Dude had red hair and it was arranged like Dracula in the modern version of the movie. To think the Brits trusted this guy with their nuclear secrets.
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