Russia says five of its civilians may have been killed in Syria by US-led forces

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Syrian fighters and their trainers attend a graduation ceremony near Syria's northeastern city of Hasakeh on January 20, 2018, at the end of a US-led training programme aimed at forming a security force to patrol territory captured from the Islamic State group along the country's northern border. / AFP PHOTO / DELIL SOULEIMAN (Photo credit should read DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Five Russian citizens may have been killed in Syria in clashes with US-led coalition forces this month, but they were not Russian military personnel, a Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman told a news briefing on Thursday.

The spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said media reports about dozens or hundreds of Russian dead in Syria were “disinformation”.

Associates of Russian private military contractors fighting alongside government forces in Syria have said there were large-scale casualties among the contractors when US-led coalition forces clashed with pro-government forces in Syria´s Deir al-Zor province on February 7.