Report stating that Putin cancelled events to discuss incident in Syria's Deir-ez-Zor has nothing to do with reality - Peskov
MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) - Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov has denied reports that President Vladimir Putin cancelled some events early this week to discuss lethal incidents in Deir-ez-Zor, Syria, with generals.
In response to journalists' request to comment on reports that Putin allegedly cancelled meetings and trips on Monday and Tuesday and instead met with his generals to discuss the situation in Deir-ez-Zor, Peskov said: "No, it's not so. This report is false. It has nothing to do with reality."
It was reported on Monday that five Russian citizens, who, according to media reports, were not Russian servicemen, had been killed in Syria. Their death was presumably associated with the strike by the U.S.-led coalition near Deir-ez-Zor.
The newspaper Kommersant reported on Wednesday, citing a military source, that 11 Russian citizens had been killed in the U.S. strike near Deir-ez-Zor.