The Kremlin says it knows nothing about any dead Russian mercenaries in Syria

Asked about the Russian mercenaries who reportedly died in a recent U.S.-led coalition strike against armed supporters of the Assad regime in Syria, Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said on Tuesday that the Kremlin only has information about Russian soldiers and doesn’t know anything about other Russian citizens who might be on the ground in Syria.

“Let’s be clear: there are a good many of our compatriots in many countries around the world,” Peskov said, referring journalists to the Defense Ministry and saying that media reports need to be verified. The Defense Ministry has denied that any Russian citizens died in the airstrikes.

On February 7, the international coalition in Syria bombed pro-government armed forces in Syria. According to sources in the Pentagon, the airstrikes killed an estimated 100 people, including multiple Russians, according to the individuals’ mourning friends and families. The Russian citizens who allegedly died in the attack were reportedly working for the private military company “Wagner.”