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Writeup neatly summarizing what we know and don't:
Does that mean the deaths of dozens of Russian fighters as a result of a direct U.S. military attack will quietly fade away, however improbable that may seem? Earlier this week, a person close to private Russian military companies told me that those involved in the ill-fated battle in Deir Ezzor talk of a simmering feeling of betrayal—even if it’s hard to know who is responsible for it. “Some of them say they were betrayed by local Syrian militias who proposed this mission; others think they were betrayed by the Kurds, who asked the Americans to hammer them,” the source said, before moving farther down the list. “As they see it, the Americans can’t really have betrayed them because they are already enemies, anyway. Nor do they blame the Russian defense ministry: these guys know they got into something they shouldn’t have. And, as for the Russian government itself, well, none of them expect much of anything from the state, anyway.”
Most of them are linked to a structure called Wagner, a company that has apparent ties to Evgeny Prigozhin, a onetime St. Petersburg restaurateur who became close to Vladimir Putin in the early aughts. Prigozhin ended up with lucrative contracts to supply food to the Russian Army and has taken to overseeing the sorts of enterprises that the Kremlin finds useful but doesn’t want to manage itself. On Friday, the special counsel, Robert Mueller, indicted Prigozhin and twelve other Russian nationals for allegedly interfering in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election.
That guy really gets around.
"Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."
I can't help but feel sorry for these guys. They were used as true cannon fodder.
Initially I thought there might be some significant intrigues, but I think the real answer may be more depressing: The Russian government doesn't give a damn about its citizens. These men are just thrown into harm's way with not a care in the world.
I can't help but feel sorry for these guys. They were used as true cannon fodder.
Initially I thought there might be some significant intrigues, but I think the real answer may be more depressing: The Russian government doesn't give a damn about its citizens. These men are just thrown into harm's way with not a care in the world.
Dead mercs can't come back to make political trouble.
Afrin: Kurdish fighters 'strike deal' with Syrian army
Kurdish fighters in north-western Syria say they have struck a deal with the Syrian government under which it will send troops to help repel a Turkish offensive.
The Syrian government in Damascus has offered no confirmation.
Turkey regards the Kurdish fighters, just across its border in Afrin, as terrorists. It launched a major offensive against them last month.
There is currently no Syrian military presence in the area.
A senior Kurdish official, Badran Jia Kurd, told Reuters that government soldiers could enter the Afrin region within days and that they would deploy to some border positions.
The alleged agreement was also reported by Iraqi Kurdish media group Rudaw, which quoted a Kurdish politician from Syria, and a news agency which backs Syrian Kurdish forces.
If the deal has really been struck, Turkish troops could find themselves confronting not only Kurdish fighters in Afrin, but the Syrian army too, says BBC World Service Middle East editor Alan Johnston. [...]
German state news outlet Deutsche Welle claims the agreement was brokered by Russia.
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