In a video
broadcast by a Russian nationalist website, Rusvesna.su , a Russian military
vehicle in a desert convoy could be seen ramming a US armoured car, as a
Russian helicopter flew low overhead.
The Russian
and US governments have blamed each other after Russian and US armoured
vehicles in north-eastern Syria collided on Wednesday August 26, injuring US
troops.
Recently,
news of numerous incidents involving US forces in north-eastern Syria have
become the norm.
Almost a week
ago, US forces came under fire from Russia’s Syrian allies while in February
2018 a large force of Russian mercenaries launched an assault against US
positions near a major oilfield.
But this
latest incident is the first time there was a direct confrontation between the
official Russian military and US troops.
The US government
say this is part of a pattern of incidents as Russia is breaking a variety of
local co-ordination agreements as a way to harass US forces.
Now the
Russian government has blamed the US saying the US obstructed a Russian patrol.
The Russian
defence ministry in a statement said it had given the US military prior warning
that it would be patrolling in the area.
“Despite
that, in violation of existing agreements, the US armed forces soldiers tried
to block the Russian patrol,” Russia’s defence ministry said in statement
quoted by Tass news agency.
“In response
to that, the Russian military police took necessary measures to prevent an
incident and to carry on fulfilling the mission they had been given.”
In a
statement, the Russian Defense Ministry said Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of
the Russian military’s General Staff, had a phone call with Gen. Mark Milley,
chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, to discuss the incident.
But the White
House has said the Russian vehicle was at fault as it struck a US
mine-resistant all-terrain vehicle causing concussion to the soldiers on board.
The White
House National Security Council (NSC) in its own statement said a Russian
vehicle had struck a US mine-resistant all-terrain vehicle, “causing injuries
to the vehicle’s crew” and that four US soldiers had suffered mild concussion.
Condemning
the Russian military for colliding with a US vehicle, NSC spokesperson John
Ullyot, quoted by Politico, said the coalition patrol had then left the area
“to de-escalate the situation”.
“Unsafe and
unprofessional actions like this represent a breach of de-confliction
protocols, committed to by the United States and Russia in December 2019,” Mr Ullyot
said.
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