Moscow: US Staging Fatal Provocations Against Russian Personnel in Syria

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The United States is staging fatal provocations against Russian servicemen in Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

"The US-led forces’ activities in Syria cause many questions. In some cases these forces mounts allegedly accidental strikes against the Syrian Armed Forces, after which the Islamic State [Daesh terrorist group] counterattacks, in other cases they inspire other terrorists to attack strategic locations over which official Damascus has restored its legitimate authority, or stage fatal provocations against our military personnel. I would also mention numerous ‘accidental’ strikes against civilian infrastructure that have taken hundreds of civilian lives," he told the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.

Earlier, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov stated that the recent death of a Russian Lt. Gen. Valery Asapov, who headed a group of Russian military advisers in Syria during a mortar attack by terrorists, is the price that Russia paid for the duplicity of the United States in actions aimed at resolving the crisis in the region.

Russian Defense Ministry earlier published an aerial survey of the areas where Daesh militants were stationed north of the city of Deir ez-Zor, clearly showing US special forces' units at strongholds previously fortified by terrorists.

The US State Department said later that claims of that the United States supported Daesh or was complicit in the death of Russian general have "no basis in fact".