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Rusvesna.su/youtube
A clip of the incident was posted by the Russian website Rusvesna.su
The Russian and American governments have blamed each other for a collision between Russian and American armored vehicles in northeastern Syria in which several U.S. troops were wounded.
Video of the collision was posted by a Russian nationalist website, Rusvesna.su, then widely retweeted.
The video looks like a Russian military vehicle in a desert convoy hitting an armored car, when a Russian helicopter flew low above.
Russia says the US has a patrol obstruction.
News of the incident broke Wednesday and the Russian Ministry of Defense said the U.S. military had given prior warning that it would patrol the area.
“Despite that, in violation of existing agreements, the U.S. military has tried to block the Russian patrol,” a statement from the ministry quoted by news agency Tass said.
“In response, the Russian military police took necessary measures to prevent an incident and carry it out on the mission they had been given.”
The White House National Security Council (NSC) said a Russian car hit a U.S. mine-resistant off-road vehicle, “causing injuries to the car’s crew.”
An unnamed U.S. military source told the Politico website that four U.S. soldiers had mild concussions.
The US has about 500 troops in the area – far fewer than before – to guard it against any further threat from Islamic State (IS) jihadists. The US military is helping the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance.
NSC spokesman John Ullyot, quoted by Politico, said the incident happened at 10am local time on Wednesday, when a routine security patrol encountered Russian troops at Dayrick in northeastern Syria.
He condemned the Russian army for colliding with a U.S. car, saying the coalition patrol then left the area “to de-escalate the situation”.
“Unsafe and unprofessional actions such as these represent a violation of de-conflict protocols, committed to the United States and Russia in December 2019,” Ullyot said.
Russia has provided enormous fireworks, including heavy bombers, to the troops of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who are fighting against various rebel groups, including IS.
There have been several incidents with American troops in northeastern Syria. A week or so ago, they came under fire from Russian-Syrian allies.
Back in February 2018, a large force of Russian mercenaries launched an attack on US positions at a major oil field. They were repulsed, suffering heavy casualties.
However, this last incident is different. The result of a direct confrontation between the official Russian army and American troops. The Americans claim that this is part of a pattern of incidents. Russia breaks a variety of local coordination agreements, they say, and essentially harass U.S. troops.
So why is this happening now? Moscow sees the US as under way in Syria. Last October, President Donald Trump famously decided to withdraw 1,000 U.S. troops working in support of Kurdish allies, only to change his mind, to maintain a much smaller force in a more restricted area.
But Russia knows that Mr. Trump wants to reduce Washington’s overseas military footprint. Moscow seems intent on seeing the Americans at the door.
