How was the 4-hour battle between Russian mercenaries and US special forces in Syria

Artillery fire was so intense that the American commandos jumped into the trenches to hide from it, and then rose, covered with dust and dirt, to respond to the firing of the tank column, which was attacked by powerful air strikes.

Фото: Depositphotos

This was the beginning of the almost 4-hour February offensive, in which about 500 fighters of Syrian pro-government forces, including Russian mercenaries, participated, and this fight threatened to explode the already tense relations between Moscow and Washington, writes The New York Times.

In the end, it was killed from 200 to 300 advancing. The rest departed under the merciless air strikes of the US Air Force, and then returned to collect the dead from the battlefield. None of the Americans who were on a small outpost in eastern Syria (and by the end of the battle there were about 40 people) were not injured.

The details of the February 7 clash were found in interviews and documents received by journalists. For the Pentagon, it was the first public report from the site of one of the bloodiest battles in Syria, in which the US military participated, who had arrived there to fight the "Islamic State".

According to the Pentagon, this clash was an act of self-defense against the military formation of the pro-government forces of Syria. The American commanders who gave interviews stated that on the eve of this offensive, they had watched with fear as hundreds of enemy soldiers, vehicles and artillery pieces arrived at the site of the future battle.

The possible clashes between the Russian and American military have been feared for a long time, since in the 7 lasting years of the Syrian civil war they are on opposite sides.

According to officials and experts, in the worst case, such a clash could lead the two countries to a bloody conflict. And at a minimum, the confrontation of the military of the two countries on the battlefield, where there are already many participants, has already increased serious tensions between Russia and the United States, which are seeking to increase their influence in the Middle East.

The commanders of the opposing military contingents have long been trying to stay away from each other, often talking on the phone as part of the ongoing process of deconflicting. On the eve of that memorable offensive, the Russian and American military on the opposite sides of the Euphrates supported the separate offensive of their supporters against the Islamic State in the oil-bearing province of Deir-ez-Zor, which borders Iraq.

The command of the American troops repeatedly warned about the concentration of forces and means. However, the Russian military said that the militants who were concentrated near the river did not obey them, although American listening posts intercepted radio communications sessions, indicating that these troops spoke Russian.

The documents indicate that the militants were part of the pro-government forces loyal to the Syrian President Bashar Assad. Among them were soldiers of the government army and militia, but US military and intelligence officers say that most of them were private Russian military mercenaries, most likely from the Wagner Group, whose services the Kremlin uses when the Russian government wants to distance itself from performed military tasks.

“The Russian military command in Syria has assured us that it is not their people,” said Jim Mattis, head of the US defense department, last month, speaking to senators. According to him, after that he instructed the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to destroy this group.

And she was destroyed.

Troop concentration

The beginning of the day did not even hint at indicating that the battle would begin soon.

A group of 30 troops from the Delta unit and special forces worked together with the Kurds and Arabs at a small and dusty checkpoint near the Conoco oil refinery, near Deir ez-Zor.

Around 30 kilometers from them, a squad of green berets and a platoon of marines were looking at computer screens at the site of the support equipment, receiving information from the drones about the militant congestion and passing it to the Americans from the refinery.

In 15: 00, Syrian troops began to advance towards the Conoco plant. By evening, more than 500 fighters and 27 vehicles had accumulated there, including tanks and armored personnel carriers.

In the US Aviation Control Center, located in Qatari El-Udeida, as well as at the Pentagon, intelligence officers and analysts were puzzled to see what was happening. Commanders gave instructions to pilots and ground maintenance teams. According to the military, all aircraft in the region were put on alert.

And at the site of support facilities, green berets and marines were preparing a small detachment of response on 16 machines with mine protection in case they are needed at the Conoco enterprise. People checked weapons and loaded cars with anti-tank missiles, thermal imagers, food and water.

In 20: 30, three 50-ton Russian tanks T-72 with 125-mm guns approached the refinery at a distance of one and a half kilometers. In anticipation of the attack, the green berets prepared to use their response forces.

At the checkpoint, the American soldiers watched the convoy of tanks and other armored vehicles turn and begin to approach them. That was about 22: 00. They appeared from the side of houses where they tried to concentrate imperceptibly.

Half an hour later, Russian mercenaries and Syrian forces struck.

At the checkpoint at the Konoko plant, tanks, artillery and mortars opened fire, as evidenced by documents. Dust and debris filled the air. American special forces took refuge, and then hid behind the parapets of the trenches to open fire from anti-tank systems and machine guns at the advancing column of armored vehicles.

The first 15 minutes American commanders called their Russian colleagues and called on them to stop the attack. They failed, and then the Americans fired several warning shots at a group of vehicles and a howitzer.

But the troops continued to advance.

Strike from afar

Then the waves went American aircraft, among which were the Reaper drones, the F-22 stealth fighters, the F-15E strike fighters, the B-52 bombers, the AH-130 helicopters and Apache helicopters. According to the US military, for the next three hours, the aircraft ironed the enemy troops, tanks and other vehicles. Marines from the ground fired from multiple rocket launchers.

The response team hurried to the battlefield. According to the documents, by that time it was dark, there were wires on the roads from fallen power lines, and all of them were craters from shells. It was also difficult to drive due to the fact that the drivers of the cars did not turn on the headlights, relying solely on thermal imaging cameras.

11 watches 30 minutes green berets and marines approached the Conoco refinery, but were forced to stop. Artillery fire was too dangerous, and the Americans waited for their aircraft to silence howitzers and enemy tanks.

At the plant itself, the enemy pressed the special forces to the ground with artillery fire, and they were forced to respond with a response fire. In the darkness, flashes of tank guns, anti-aircraft installations and machine guns were visible.

At one o'clock in the morning, when the artillery fire began to subside, a group of marines and green berets crept up to the roadblock and began firing. By that time, part of the American aircraft had returned to the base, having spent ammunition and fuel.

On the battlefield, the American military with a total number of 40 people began to prepare for defense when the mercenaries left the cars and on foot began to approach the checkpoint.

A group of marines brought ammunition to machine guns and “Javelin” ATGM mounted on the breastwork and between the machines. Some green berets and marines were aiming at the enemy from open hatches. The rest sat inside the cars and fired from heavy machine guns mounted on the roofs with the help of remote control and thermal imagers.

Part of the special forces, including aircraft operators, over the radio link suggested a new group of bombers, approaching the battlefield. At least one Marine was on the direct fire line, using a missile guidance computer to search for targets and transfer data to the special forces who called the aircraft.

An hour later, the enemy began to withdraw, and the Americans stopped firing. Special Forces officers from their checkpoint watched the mercenaries and Syrian militants return to the battlefield to pick up the dead. One Syrian fighter on the side of the Americans was injured.

Who led the attack

The number of losses as a result of the February 7 battle is still arguing.

At first, Russian representatives said that only four citizens of Russia had died, and then they added that there may be dozens. One Syrian officer spoke about the death of approximately 100 Syrian soldiers. The documents received by the New York Times indicate that pro-government forces died from 200 to 300 people.

The outcome of the battle and its dynamics indicate that the Russian mercenaries and their Syrian allies were in the wrong place, trying to conduct a primitive massive attack on US military positions. Since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Central Command of the US Armed Forces has carried out an enormous amount of work, optimizing the number of weapons and equipment, combat tactics, interaction and logistic support, as well as the composition of military weapons leading from the air and from the ground.

There are unanswered questions about who these Russian mercenaries were and why they went on the offensive.

American intelligence officers say that the “Wagner Group”, which is called so by the name of its retired Russian officer, is in Syria to seize oil and gas fields in the interests of the Assad government, and then guard them. Mercenaries receive a portion of the profits from the mining at these deposits.

Mercenaries have little interaction with the Russian military in Syria, although according to available information, the leaders of the Wagner Group received awards in the Kremlin, and its soldiers are trained at the bases of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Russian government forces in Syria claim that they did not participate in that battle. But according to the information of the US military command, recently they began to interfere with small American UAVs and attack helicopters of the type used in the battle in Deir ez-Zor.

"Now Syria is the most active electronic warfare on the planet, and our opponents are leading it," said General Tony Thomas, who heads the command of special operations, recently. “They test us for strength every day.”

Text translation prepared edition Inosmi.

Details of the February battle between the US military and Russian mercenaries in Syria are available by link.

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