The accusations against the Wagner Group have been widely reported in the media and have been the subject of investigations by various human rights organizations. The Wagner Group, a private Russian military company, has been accused of committing war crimes in multiple conflicts around the world. ‘I Made Peace With What Was About to Happen’ Russian tanks slowly advanced toward the refinery. Over the ridge, one of the Special Forces soldiers spotted the worst-case scenario: In February 2018, this battle became one of the rare occasions that American and Russian combatants exchanged fire.ĭuring a lull in the artillery barrage, the QRF, made up of Green Berets and Marines, finally arrived at the refinery and unleashed a barrage of gunfire, turning the tide of the battle. The possibility of Russian military forces and American troops colliding in Syria was a constant concern as the adversaries took opposing sides in Syria’s seven-year civil war. This is the first public, on-the-record account from participants of one of the deadliest battles the American military has faced in Syria since they deployed to fight ISIS in September 2014 under the Obama administration. While the group included some Syrian government soldiers and militias, American military and intelligence officials determined the majority were private Russian paramilitary mercenaries, likely affiliated with the Wagner Group, a company frequently used by the Kremlin to carry out objectives without appearing to be directly linked to the Russian government.Įxclusive interviews with three former Special Forces soldiers who fought in the battle reveal some of the first details about the clash from American troops on the ground. Documents obtained by The New York Times referred to the fighters at the refinery as a “ pro-regime force,” loyal to President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. The Wagner Group seized oil and gas fields in Syria to protect them for the Assad government, with mercenaries earning a share of production proceeds, according to American intelligence officials. It offered the Russians a foothold on the east side of the river. Among the largest in the area, it had multiple buildings that provided good cover. Around 500 pro-Syrian government forces, including Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group, launched a nearly four-hour attack on a small group of 40 American Special Operations troops and their Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) allies at a Conoco natural gas refinery in eastern Syria. But after months of successful operations against ISIS, the team now faced a new adversary. In February 2018, the American Special Forces team deployed to Syria as part of the ongoing campaign against ISIS that began in 2015. The soldiers’ last names have been withheld to protect their identities. “By far, the most chaotic battle scene that I’ve ever observed, let alone be a part of.” “It looked like New York City on New Year’s Eve,” Chauncey, a former Special Forces team sergeant who helped lead a quick reaction force (QRF) to the refinery, tells The War Horse. This was a trained Russian force with artillery and armored vehicles. ISIS, for the most part, was a few mortar rounds or spray-and-pray potshots from an AK-47. The Special Forces team had been in combat against ISIS fighters for months, but this was different.
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