For several days, the public has been wondering what happened to the Russian private military company Wagner, which is rumored to have suffered heavy losses in Syria.

Information about the massacre at the official level is extremely scarce and closed. Both the US and Russia acknowledge that conflict situation took place. However, both sides say nothing about the presence of Russians on the battlefield.

Nevertheless, fragments of information about the death of soldiers from the Russian Federation near the village of Khsham in Syria have already begun to seep into those Russian media that are quite loyal to the Kremlin.

The only question is the number of dead and the fact of the battle itself.

What fight are you talking about?

On the night of February 8, a battle took place near the village of Khsham in the Syrian province of Deir Ez Zor. The settlement is located on the border between the Kurds, supported by the United States and the forces of the Assad government.

The sides are separated by the Euphrates River - the Syrians have entrenched themselves on the western bank, on the eastern bank - the Kurds, who form the backbone of the Syrian Free Army, which is in opposition to Damascus, supported by the Americans.

According to Russia, detachments of the Islamic State are based in the same area.

The parties blame each other for the conflict. In the US, they say that Assad's forces launched an attack on the Kurdish headquarters, where American advisers were located. They asked for contacts with the Russian military, who said that "they are not there" and they do not conduct any operations in the area.

Then American aviation was called in, which defeated the advancing forces "in an open field." The U.S. military reportedly gave advance notice Russian side plans to strike. In Russia, this was not denied.

In the American media, The Washington Post did the most complete reconstruction of events.

From the commentary of the Kurdish general Hassan, it follows that on the night of February 7-8, a pro-Assad column with tanks, armored vehicles, artillery and trucks advanced in the direction of the Conoco oil and gas field. At about 22.00 the enemy opened fire from tanks and artillery pieces. The shells exploded "about 450 meters from the positions occupied by the DSS (Democratic Forces of Syria - ed.) and American soldiers."

According to Hasan, US Air Force attack aircraft, fighter jets and drones were forced to attack the attackers. The battle ended at about 5.30 am.

The attack from the coalition included an AC-130 attack aircraft and an Ah-64 Apache helicopter, F-15 fighter jets and drones, as well as artillery batteries.

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the picture is quite different. The Americans made an air raid on a detachment of Syrian militias who were carrying out an operation against the “sleeping cell” of ISIS in the area of ​​the former oil refinery “El-Isba”.

At the same time, the department stressed that the militias that came under attack by the coalition did not coordinate their operation with the command of the Russian task force. No claims were made against the US.

So were the Russians or not?

As the Kremlin later stated, Russian military personnel did not participate in the operation.

“As you know, in this case, we operate with the data that relate to the military personnel of the armed forces Russian Federation who take part in the operation of the armed forces, the Russian Aerospace Forces in support of the Syrian army. We do not have data on other Russians who may be in Syria,” said Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

The fact that it was the Russians who were bombed, at the official level, is not even sure in the United States.Javascript

US Secretary of Defense James Mattis said he did not have accurate information that Russian PMCs were killed during an air strike on Assad's forces.

“We even coordinate ground operations from each side,” Mattis said. According to him, the Russian military was not among the Syrian forces that came under fire from the coalition at Hisham.

“The Russians told us at that time that their forces were not there,” the head of the Pentagon said.

“The fact is that someone decided to attack us, and the Russians said that it was not about them. (...) One cannot ask Russia to prevent a conflict in the event that it does not control something, this could not be done,” Mattis said.

Airstrike statement from the Pentagon. Not a word about the Russians

He also added that the Euphrates River has long been used as a line of demarcation between US and opposition forces, as well as Russian and Syrian government forces. “The Russians have always responded to our signals, we have always responded. That line has never been broken,” Mattis added.

He also suggested that Khsham had no contractors or employees of Russian private military companies. “I think the Russians would have told us,” Mattis said. However, he warned that he did not have absolutely accurate information on this matter.

However, reports of the death of soldiers from the Russian PMC "Wagner" continue to come. Participation in this battle of these fighters was first reported on the Telegram channel of the Conflict Intelligence Team community and on the VK page of Igor Girkin (Strelkov), who for some time commanded the "army of the DPR".

No one has yet officially denied this information. In the meantime, the first names of the dead “private traders” have already appeared.

What do they say about loss?

At the moment, there have already been five names of soldiers who served with the Wagner and died presumably in the battle near Khsham.

Alexey Ladygin from Ryazan - Vladimir Loginov from Kaliningrad

Stanislav Matveev from Asbest, Sverdlovsk Region

Igor Kosoturov, Asbest

Kirill Ananiev from the Other Russia party

A number of local Russian media wrote about their deaths, friends and relatives of the victims reported on social networks, as well as public organizations(for example, Cossacks).

These names are also given by the Russian "Komsomolskaya Pravda", which added one more deceased - a Ukrainian. According to the publication, a native of Slavyansk, who since 2014 has taken part in the battles in the Donbass from the separatists, has already been buried in Rostov. And in 2016, he signed a contract with PMC.

Trophy Recording (very Bad quality) the execution of a column of 245 SMEs in Chechnya on April 16, 1996. total 4 parts

At about 2:00 p.m. we set off. At 14.10 Chishki passed and the gates were pulled in front of the entrance to the gorge. Arkasha says: "Look, only women and children." And just yesterday, the guys from the 324th regiment told me: "If there are men, women and children on the road, everything is fine. If only women are krants, an ambush will soon come."

The column stretched out in "mother-in-law's tongue" (this is such a serpentine). On it, the fillers barely turned around, and I don’t even know how the MAZs that pulled the faulty equipment went through. Everything is quiet, calm. We're going, we're telling jokes. The Yaryshmardy passed, the head of the column had already gone around the turn, the nalivniks had passed the bridge over the dry riverbed. And then - an explosion ahead, we look - because of the hillock, the tank turret was thrown up, the second explosion was also somewhere in the head of the column, and the third just banged between the one in front and our tanker. The explosion blew off the hood and shattered the windows. It was then that I was concussed for the first time. Arkasha had already got out of the car, and I got tangled in two door handles - well, I just went crazy. Finally fell out of the cab. The fire is very dense, but I have already begun to think and ran away from the filler for 15 meters, despite the fire of the spirits. I found some kind of depression in the side of the road, pushed my ass in there. A conscript soldier lay down nearby. The first shock has passed - I observe how things are going. And things are unimportant. The fillers stood on the road. The guys from the platoon of tankers shoot back in all directions as best they can, where the spirits specifically are still unclear. Arkasha from under the wheel of his filler wets into the white light.

Then a grenade passed me as if it would hit the filler that was walking behind us. The filler is on fire. I estimate that if it explodes now, then we will all be very hot. I'm trying to figure out where this thing came from. I look, like someone is swarming about 170 meters from us. I looked into the sight, and the "dushara" was already preparing a new grenade ... I dumped it from the first shot, I liked it myself. I start looking for targets. Another "darling" is sitting in the trench, watering from a machine gun. I fired, but I can't say with certainty whether I killed or not, because the bullet hit the upper edge of the parapet at chest level, behind which he was sitting. The spirit has disappeared. Either I still got it, or he decided not to tempt fate anymore. Again I took aim, I see, on a roll, the spirit "on four bones" crawls uphill. I only scared him with the first shot. He moved his limbs more actively, but did not have time to escape. The second shot, like a good kick in the ass, threw him over his head.

While I was firing at the spirits, Arkash drove the burning tanker away and threw it off the road. I listened, like a machine gun works. They set fire to something behind us, and black smoke went in our direction along the gorge, because of it, not a fig could be seen in the sight. Dmitry and I figured - that was the name of the conscript - that it was time for us to get out of here. Gathered and rushed across the road, fell behind the concrete blocks in front of the bridge. Do not raise your head, while the machine gunner, meanwhile, is hammering at the fillers, and not without success. He set them on fire. We are lying with Dima, and a river of burning kerosene, a meter and a half wide, flows past us towards the bridge. It is unbearably hot from the flame, but, as it turned out, this is not the worst thing. When the fiery river reached the "Ural" with charges for self-propelled guns, all this stuff began to explode. I look, some things with rags fly out of the car. Dima explained that these were lighting projectiles. We lie down and count: Dima said that there were about 50 of them in the car. Meanwhile, the second "Ural" caught fire with high-explosive shells. It’s good that he didn’t completely detonate, the shells were scattered in explosions to the sides.

I lie and think: "Damn, why is it that no one commands us?" As it turned out later, Khattab planned everything so competently that literally at the very beginning of the battle, all the control that was traveling on two command and staff vehicles was mowed down by small arms fire, and the KShM themselves stood untouched during the entire battle.

Suddenly, in the second "Ural" with high-explosive ammunition, something exploded so that the rear axle with one wheel with a candle went up 80 meters, and, according to our considerations, it should have flopped right on us. Well, we think we've arrived. However, he was lucky: he fell ten meters away. Everything is in smoke, everything is exploding. You can't see anything through the scope because of the smoke. The shooting is erratic, but the spirit machine gunner stood out from the crowd. We decided to get out of this pitch hell, ran into the "green". Distributed with Dima sectors of fire. I fire at the front, and he covers my rear and watches so that the spirits do not come from above. They crawled out to the edge, and on the tank, which was at the tail of the column, spirits from RPGs were beating. Eight times hit, but to no avail. Then, nevertheless, they pierced the tower from the side of the commander's hatch. Smoke poured out of it. Apparently, the crew was injured, and the mechanic began to back down. So he walked backwards through the entire column and, they say, reached the regiment.

An hour has passed since the start of the battle. The firing began to subside. I say: "Well, that's it, Dima, we pull to the end of the column!" We ran under the bridge, I saw some people in "Afghan" clothes, seven people, next to two corpses. We run up. One of the seated turns. Oh my God! He has a black beard, aquiline nose and wild eyes. I throw up my rifle, pull the trigger... The rest of us turn around. Okay, I didn't. The contractor turned out to be bearded. Even without me, he sits dazed, stutters, can’t say anything. I shout: "Uncle, I almost failed you!" And he doesn't budge.

In our direction, the BMP "limps" crawling, collecting the wounded. She got hit in the torsion bar, and she hobbles like that. They threw the wounded inside, taxied out onto the road - around the car they burn out, something in them is torn. The firefight almost died down.

Let's go. Somewhere closer to Argun on the road, the men shout: "Guys! We have wounded here. Help!" I jumped to them, and the car went on. I go to the guys. They say: "We have a major wounded." Seated major in camouflage, with a sign marines on the sleeve. A through wound in the arm and chest. All pale from loss of blood. The only thing I had was a tourniquet. I pulled his hand over to him. We got to talking, it turned out that he was the political officer of the battalion in the Pacific Fleet. At this time, one of the guys remembered that they were carrying beer, cigarettes, juice, etc. in the car. I covered the guys, and they ran away and dragged all this stuff. We lie down, drink beer, smoke. It's starting to get dark. I think: "Now it's getting dark, the spirits will come down, there's no help, and we're going to get screwed!" We decided to take a better position. We took a fancy to the hillock, occupied it, we lie down, we wait. The guys from the RMO show me the situation. Cars with ammunition were burned by spirits from RPGs, and those with food were simply slashed from small arms.

Will help come...

Artillery began to work, very carefully, only along the slopes, and without hitting a single locality, nor us. Then four Mi-24s came and worked in the mountains. It got dark. We hear from the side of the 324th regiment - a terrible roar. It turns out that help is rolling. Ahead of the T-72, followed by an infantry fighting vehicle, then another tank. Before reaching 50 meters, he stops and aims a gun at us. I think: "That's it! The spirits didn't bang - they'll finish off their own with a fright!" We jump up, wave our hands - they say, ours. The tank shook its barrel, turned around and how it shied into the "green" 20 meters away from itself. From this "help" people jumped up - crawling on the grass, watering around them from machine guns. We yell at them: "Guys, why are you crawling? There is no one here anymore." It turns out that it was intelligence of the 324th regiment. I went up to the officers, I said: "Why are you fighting here? You have to go to the head of the column!" And they told me: since you were here and even think, take ten people and move with them, where you yourself said.

I walked around, found scouts, and we moved forward. I counted over forty burnt corpses. Judging by which cars remained intact, the spirits had a clear idea of ​​what was where. For example, the medical MTLB generally remained untouched, only the mechanics of small arms were filled up, and the ZUshka behind it was literally turned into a sieve. Then we asked why help came so late: if they had come an hour and a half earlier, then someone in the head of the column would have survived, and so there, to the last, one BRDM resisted, in which almost everyone was killed.

As the guys from the 324th regiment later said, when they reported that our column was wet in the gorge and it would be nice to rush to help, they were told not to twitch and stand where they are. Help came to us two and a half hours later, when it was all over.

In contact with

Classmates

According to some media outlets, Russian fighters of Wagner PMCs were attacked by American artillery and aircraft, avenging the death of US military advisers in the Idlib region.

The Wagner Private Military Company suffered significant losses in Syria due to the actions of American artillery and aircraft covering the ground units of their Kurdish allies, several media outlets informed on the Internet on February 9. Data on the losses of PMCs, as usual, are called contradictory.

It all started with the fact that the American television channel CBS, citing an anonymous representative of the Pentagon, informed that the troops of the international coalition led by America on February 7 dealt a powerful blow to pro-government troops in Syria. This incident, according to the channel, was "the first time that Russians were killed due to an American airstrike in Syria." There were no official comments from America.

At the same time, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that the militias supporting the Syrian authorities came under fire from the coalition in the province of Deir ez-Zor due to actions that were not coordinated with the Russian military. The department said that there were no Russian servicemen in the strike area.

The next day, February 10, information appeared in the media with a link to one of the Telegram channels, which published 4 audio recordings at once, as well as a transcript of negotiations between witnesses of the American attack. From the negotiations, it becomes clear that the Wagner PMC column was first subjected to artillery, and then to air strikes. Hundreds of fighters seem to have died because of this.

“There were Pindos (Americans)… First they covered them with artillery (artillery), then they raised 4 turntables (helicopters) and launched heavy machine guns into the carousel… Ours had nothing besides machine guns. Actually made hell there. The Pindos specifically and clearly knew that we were coming, the Russians were going to squeeze out the factory, and they were sitting at this factory ... A lot of those who disappeared without a trace, ”one entry says.

The second record says that almost 200 people were killed.

“Brother, look. There are 177 killed - only the 5th company. The two almost didn't catch on. In short, the entire 5 was liquidated, they were rolled out there by aviation, turntables, artillery, and the Kurds and the Americans flooded them, the boys simply had no chance, almost the entire 5 lay down, ”notes the voice of an unknown person.

From the third entry, it becomes clear that before the attack, the United States raised its flag and shot at the convoy heading towards them. The voice on the tape is surprised at what the Russians hoped for.

“From the equipment, he reports, one tank and one BRDM survived, and all the other “brothels”, all the other tanks were liquidated in the first minutes of the battle right away,” says the unknown.

Information appeared that the battle was fought for the Koneko oil field, which became the target of government troops. The object, in all likelihood, was supported by a Russian PMC. The figure is 100 people.

“Despite the fact that it is physically controlled by the SDF, the sheikh of the local tribe promised to give it to the use of the Syrian government (and most likely, one of the Syrian entrepreneurs personally). The result of this agreement was the attack of the Syrian Arab Army, ”the media reported.

There is unofficial confirmation of the fact of a clash between Russian mercenaries and US troops in Syria from the lawyer of the International Committee for the Protection of Human Rights, Alexander Ionov. He also, as in the original audio recordings, voices the figure of 200 people.

“According to my sources, more than two hundred people died. The exact number of those killed will be determined within a few days, negotiations are underway on the presence in this corridor. The column was attacked on the march. It is not completely clear what goals and objectives the representatives of the “Wagner Company” had, assembling their units and subunits for a march towards the Euphrates,” Ionov said.

An approximate picture of what happened was also revealed.

“After talking with the Syrian military, we realized that our fighters were under heavy fire from artillery installations that were covering the pro-American Kurdish units. Then 2 US Air Force helicopters launched a missile and bomb attack on those who had taken refuge behind the ruins. People were simply finished off,” the expert says.

Alexander Ionov admits that the strike was the Pentagon's revenge for the death of US military advisers in the Idlib region, which happened as a result of a retaliatory strike by the Russian Aerospace Forces after the heroic death of Su-25 attack aircraft pilot Roman Filipov.

“During the attack on our plane in Idlib, the Russian side responded with air strikes on militant concentration points. Probably, American military advisers were at these points. Apparently, they were among the 30 people that ours laid down. And here, probably, the Americans showed integrity, decided to take revenge and struck, but not at units and formations of regular Russian troops, and for the allies - "Wagner PMCs" and militias of Syrian origin," Ionov noted.

However, there are those who admit that the losses of Russian volunteers due to the American strike in Syria are greatly exaggerated. Most of them were killed while moving in a truck. This was told by the ataman of the Baltic separate Cossack district Maxim Buga. He refers to the messages of the fighters who continue to operate in the SAR.

On February 12, information appeared on the Internet that Kaliningrad Cossack Vladimir Loginov died in Syria because of the attack. Bug confirmed this fact. He clarified that this was due to a coalition strike. But the chieftain refutes the information about hundreds of victims among the volunteers. As he notes, 15-20 people died, about 50 more were injured.

Ataman said that each participant in the clashes has his own vision of events, "the general has his own, the man on the front line has his own", hence the difference in information about the dead.

“Because of this, different information came. One said - it was on the offensive, the other - that during the movement. Most of the people died when they were driving in KamAZ,” Buga specified.

As he notes, the blow was delivered, according to him, either by a rocket from a helicopter, or by artillery, and the helicopter aimed. Ataman did not voice the organization, which includes volunteers in Syria. Now about 10 Kaliningrad Cossacks remain in the SAR. There may be more immigrants from the region, because people of “different political beliefs” go there.

A group of independent investigators, the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT), announced the names of 4 Russian Wagner PMC fighters who died as a result of an air strike by a coalition led by America. Experts note that the dead are Alexey Ladygin from Ryazan, Stanislav Matveev and Igor Kosoturov from the city of Asbest, Sverdlovsk Region, and Vladimir Loginov.

According to CIT data, Ladygin and Kosoturov previously fought in the Donbass, while Loginov was an active participant in the Cossack movement. But experts add that it is currently impossible to name the exact number of dead Wagner PMC fighters.

The details of the battle became known, in which, according to unverified reports, more than 200 people, including from the Russian private military company PMC Wagner. Confirmations of losses among the Russians began to come only today, almost a week after that "meat grinder".

The fact of the appearance in hospitals in Moscow and St. Petersburg of Russians wounded in Syria not from the Armed Forces of our country has been officially confirmed. AT social networks testimonies of the relatives of the dead begin to appear, and military sources of the Kommersant publication say about the death of 11 Russian citizens from the PMC near Deir ez-Zor on February 7. Who, what and why climbed there, we.

Russian "volunteers" in Syria

Stop speculating on this topic or, conversely, savor your success, I decided US Air Force Commander in Syria Lieutenant General Jeffrey Harrigan. Fighting in the area of ​​the CONOCO oil field (discovered by the Americans) and the oil refinery (built by the Americans, but nationalized by Assad) General called the defense of what we won from ISIS(banned on the territory of the Russian Federation).

The goal of the Americans in this area was simple - return oil and cash flow, in which they invested, then lost as a result of nationalization, then the “barmaley” hoisted the black banner of the Caliphate on it, and then returned it to its original position again with the help of the so-called. "moderate opposition." And so, they are sitting quietly at the plant, pumping Syrian oil, driving it in an unknown direction ... and suddenly they notice the accumulation of unfriendly forces that intend to "squeeze" business from the Americans (intelligence is on the alert).

The attack was not unexpected. The coalition was watching unhurried build-up of personnel a week before the attack. We have informed the Russian side that there are SDF and coalition forces in the area.

According to the general, the coalition forces have no other enemy in Syria than the terrorists of the pseudo-caliphate, but if someone threatens the Americans (or decides to take their money) ... well, you understand the message.

Organized attack Syrian units and up to three companies of fighters (not confirmed) began on the evening of February 7. With the support of tanks, artillery, mortars and MLRS, the pro-Syrian militias quite easily crushed the first line of defense of the SDF (the Syrian Democratic Forces, by the way, are being trained by their American partners).

F-22 "Raptor" (top) and F-15E "Eagle" (bottom)

When the Euphrates smelled of kerosene, the Americans decided to call the Russians...

We immediately contacted the Russian representatives on a special line to report an unprovoked attack on SDF and coalition positions. After that, the leadership of the coalition approved the strikes.

And here's where it gets interesting. The general lists the military equipment involved from his department: fighters F-22 "Raptor", drones MQ-9 Reaper, attack helicopters AH-64 "Apache", fighter-bombers F-15E, close fire support aircraft AC-130E Specter, attention, strategic bombers B-52 "Stratosphere Fortress".

MQ-9 Reaper

To believe in the words of the general that within their kind of fight against ISIS in Syria, the F-22 and MQ-9 UAVs patrolled in the coalition's area of ​​​​responsibility, it is quite possible. Couple episodes with "Raptors" and our Su-35S. The constant presence of strike UAVs in the air is a mandatory attribute of the American method of warfare on any continent. Apaches, most likely (although the general said that after the retreat began, the fire was stopped). Main weapon of helicopters AH-64- anti-tank missiles hellfire performed well in recent battles.

A video of an American strike on the positions of Syrian units has been published. The one in which many "Wagnerites" died. Destruction of the T-72 tank and M-30 (D-30) howitzer

AC-130E Specter.

Aircraft fire support ( ) AC-130E Specter. They are based, among other things, AC-130 aircraft in the transport version. There was no information about the modification with machine-gun and cannon armament. Principle of operation this machine is simple. The pilots start circling over the target, "tilting" the aircraft with its "armed" side towards the target, and, as in a computer game, they destroy all life on earth with impunity, watching the results on the computer screen. The aircraft is quite vulnerable to air defense systems, which were not in service with the attackers. Approximately like this.