Russian Defense Ministry denies that Syria casualties understated
MOSCOW. April 19 (Interfax) - The Russian Defense Ministry has denied reports by a number of Western media outlets that the ministry is understating casualties Russia has suffered in Syria.
"Beware of fakes," ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov told reporters on Wednesday.
"This entire text is an absolutely false compilation of rumors prepared in a rush to distract attention from the false show of the alleged chemical airstrike in Syria's Khan Sheikhun," he said.
"First of all, there have been no official statistics of the alleged 'casualties sustained in the battle of Palmyra'; such data has never been published and does not exist," he said.
Konashenkov described the reports claiming that Russian casualties in Syria were understated as "non-words written to justify the headline."
"The Russian Defense Ministry's remark that Western politicians and diplomats had no real proof of a chemical attack in Syria's Khan Sheikhun simply had to trigger a negative response. The release of a negative report regarding Russia for the purpose of distracting the international public's attention was only a matter of time," Konashenkov said.
The Western media said that 21 Russian soldiers died in the battle of Palmyra. They also alleged that the Russian Defense Ministry understated by 75% the real casualties suffered in Syria in the period from late January to late March 2017.
"None of the names they mentioned belong to Russian servicemen," Konashenkov said.
