US air strike

Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman of Russia’s Foreign Ministry, has vigorously denied widespread Western media reports of ‘scores’ or even ‘hundreds’ of deaths of Russian mercenaries supposedly killed in the recent US air strike in Syria against pro-Syrian government tribal fighters east of the Euphrates river.

As the military crisis in Deir Ezzor continues, the Syrian army has rushed reinforcements to the besieged desert city by helicopter, and has sent one of its toughest and most capable commanders there.
This is General Mohammad Khaddour, who previously commanded the garrison at Deir Ezzor until he was reassigned elsewhere from there a year ago.