• Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian oligarch charged last week by the special counsel Robert Mueller's office with playing a role in information warfare against the US, told Kremlin and Syrian officials that Russian mercenaries were going to attack US forces in Syria, The Washington Post reported.
• Russian mercenaries fighting on behalf of the Syrian government attacked US forces in a massive battle earlier this month.
• A Reuters report cited sources as saying the purpose of the attack was to test the US's response, which was immediate and overwhelming.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian oligarch, reportedly spoke to Kremlin and Syrian officials before a group of Russian mercenaries he's thought to control attacked US forces earlier this month in Syria.

Citing intercepted communications, The Washington Post reported on Thursday that Prigozhin told a senior Syrian official he had "secured permission" from a Russian minister to carry out a "fast and strong" initiative in early February.

Then, on February 7, a column of some 500 forces loyal to the Syrian government — which the Kremlin has acknowledged included at least some Russian nationals — advanced on a well-known headquarters of the Syrian Democratic Forces, which the US trains, equips, and stations within Syria.

How the battle went down

The purpose of the attack — which saw 122mm howitzers, tanks, and multiple launch rocket systems get close to the US-backed position in Syria — was to test the US's response, Reuters reported.

Operating Russian-made T-55 and T-72 tanks, the group fired 20 to 30 tank rounds within 500 feet of the SDF base, which held some US troops, said Dana White, the Pentagon press secretary.

The US-led coalition responded with "AC-130 gunships, F-15s, F-22s, Army Apache helicopter gunships, and Marine Corps artillery," according to Lucas Tomlinson, a Fox News reporter. CNN also reported that Himars and MQ-9 drones were used in the attack.

The US reported more than 100 dead, but a later report from Bloomberg placed that figure as high as 300. The Pentagon said only one SDF fighter was injured in the battle.

Prigozhin's role

Prigozhin, a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was one of 13 Russians charged last week by the special counsel Robert Mueller's office with conducting "information warfare" against the US during the 2016 election.

The Post report says US intelligence believes Prigozhin is "almost certainly" in control of the Russian mercenaries in Syria.

The clash between US-led forces and Russian mercenaries has met with less fanfare than perhaps expected for a major battle involving nuclear-armed Cold War foes. 

"It's striking how the Russians themselves have been quick to distance themselves," a senior administration official told The Post, adding that the Russians most likely "realize just how damaging it could be to any further cooperation."

But Russia may have its reasons to conceal the fighting. Experts have speculated that by using military contractors instead of its official military, as it has in Ukraine, Russia can hide the true body count of its campaign in Syria and continue to sell the conflict to Russian citizens as a low-cost engagement.

Russia's military stood by as the US stomped the mercenaries

Immediately after the battle, Russia denied any involvement. Later, it said five Russian citizens may have died.

The Post reported that Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that "several dozen" Russians were killed or wounded in the battle and that some had been "provided assistance to return to Russia ... where they are undergoing medical treatment at a number of hospitals."

The Pentagon told Business Insider it warned the Russian military before launching a counterattack on the pro-Syrian-government forces. Russia's official military, which has considerable airpower nearby, did nothing during the fighting.

The evacuation of Russian fighters back to Russia appears to bolster the Reuters report that said Russian-led forces launched the attack to test the US's response.

SEE ALSO: Russia is using mercenaries to make it look like it's losing fewer troops in Syria

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• The Trump administration has decided that it has legal justification to keep US forces in Syria and Iraq, as well as to continue the fight against terrorism around the world. 
• Just like former President Barack Obama, President Donald Trump will use the old congressional AUMFs from 2001 and 2002 to justify its fight against terrorism, which many legal scholars have argued as a weak argument.
• Democratic Senator Tim Kaine has also voiced concern about what this means for the conflict in Syria, stressing that it could be used to engage the Syrian regime or Iran and its proxies. 

The Trump administration will keep the US military in Syria and Iraq indefinitely without new congressional authorization, according to the New York Times, citing State Department and Pentagon officials. 

This decision will likely extend to the US' broader fight against terrorism, which is being waged in numerous countries around the world, such as Afghanistan, Yemen, and Somalia.

The last comprehensive congressional authorization to use military force (AUMF) came in 2001 when the legislative body authorized former President George Bush to "use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons."

Another congressional AUMF was also passed in 2002, but it only allowed the use of military force in Iraq. 

After Bush, the Obama administration used the 2001 AUMF to justify airstrikes against ISIS, and other terrorist groups, arguing that ISIS was al-Qaeda's affiliate in Iraq from 2004 to 2014.

"This is a weak argument," Cornell University Law School professor Jens David Ohlin said in 2014. "Yes, ISIS once had a relationship with al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden, but that prior relationship no longer governs. What matters is the current relationship."

Many other legal scholars struck a similar tone.

"Congress is supposed to be declaring war, and the president is supposed to be making war," Jennifer Daskal, a professor at American University and former Justice Department lawyer, told NPR in 2016.

"There appears to be a clear abdication of responsibility on behalf of Congress," Daskal said, adding that it sets a dangerous precedent and could allow future presidents to use the military at his or her own discretion. 

Some members of Congress, however, such as Republican Senator Jeff Flake and Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, have introduced new AUMFs over the years to no avail.

More recently, Kaine voiced his concern over what this means for the US military's role in Syria, where it will remain even in territories of the country where ISIS fighters have been cleared.

"I am concerned that the United States will soon find itself lacking domestic or international legal standing for operations in Syria based on official statements that our presence, intended for a narrowly-scoped campaign to fight ISIS, might now be used to pressure the Syrian government, target Iran and its proxies, and engage other entities not covered under the 2001 AUMF," Kaine wrote to US Secretaries Rex Tillerson and James Mattis in December. 

"The United States does not seek to fight the government of Syria or Iran or Iranian-supported groups in Iraq or Syria," Mary K. Waters, the assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs, wrote back. "However, the United States will not hesitate to use necessary and proportionate force to defend U.S., coalition, or partner forces engaged in operations to defeat ISIS and degrade Al Qaeda."

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• President Donald Trump blasted Russia, Iran, and the Syrian government over their continued military campaigns in Syria, which has killed and injured thousands since the beginning of the year.
• Trump was speaking at a press conference with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
• It was perhaps one of Trump's sharpest critiques ever of Russia.

President Donald Trump blasted Russia, Iran and the Syrian government on Friday for their military campaigns in Syria during a press conference with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. 

"What Russia, and what Iran and what Syria have done recently is a humanitarian disgrace," Trump said. "What those three countries have done to people over a short period of time is a disgrace."

In early January, Russia and the Syrian regime increased its bombing runs in the rebel-held areas of Idlib province and Eastern Ghouta, where 250 civilians alone were killed in 48 hours earlier this week.

"No words will do justice to the children killed, their mothers, their fathers and their loved ones," the UN recently said in a statement. "Do those inflicting the suffering still have words to justify their barbaric acts?"

Thousands more have been killed and injured since the beginning of the year, and there have been reports of multiple chlorine gas attacks. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced. 

Russia and the Syrian government have also been repeatedly accused of targeting hospitals, many of which have had to move underground.

This appears to be one of the first times Trump has called out Russia, especially for its actions in Syria. CNN's Marshall Cohen tweeted that it was "one of the harshest critiques of RUSSIA that I've ever seen from [Trump]."

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President Donald Trump appeared to contradict his own State Department during a press conference on Friday by saying that the US is in Syria to defeat ISIS and then leave. 

"We're there for one reason: to get ISIS and get rid of ISIS and to go home," Trump said during a press conference with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. "We're not there for any other reason."

In January, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson outlined five goals for the US in Syria — to defeat ISIS and al-Qaida, resolve the conflict between the Syrian regime and people, to curb Iranian influence, to create conditions so that refugees can safely return, and to create a Syria free of weapons of mass destruction. 

Tillerson also said that the US seeks to resolve the conflict between the Syrian regime and people through UN Security Council Resolution 2254, which works towards a free Syrian election that Washington believes will peacefully get rid of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. 

But even if the situation gets to the point where a free and fair election is held, it's not a guarantee that Assad will be voted out. 

The Trump administration also decided this week that it could continue to maintain US troops in Syria indefinitely, even in areas where ISIS fighters have been cleared, without new Congressional authorization.

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• Reuters photographer named Bassam Khabieh captured an eerie scene in a Syrian town outside of Damascus on Friday.
• The image shows local civilians inspecting, staring at, and walking by a missile that had been fired at the town by Russia or the Syrian regime — a sobering example of the harsh realities they face each day.
• "We are waiting our turn to die. This is the only thing I can say," said Bilal Abu Salah, 22, whose wife is five months pregnant with their first child.

A Reuters photographer named Bassam Khabieh captured an eerie scene in the Syrian town of Douma on Friday, which is located in the Eastern Ghouta region outside of Damascus.

The image captured by Khabieh shows local civilians inspecting, staring at, and walking by a missile that had been fired at the town by Russia or the Syrian regime.

The missile appears to be a Russian-made Tochka.

Although Russia and the Syrian regime began increasing bombing runs in Eastern Ghouta in early January — which has killed and injured hundreds, if not thousands, of civilians — this last week has been exceptionally horrific.

About 250 civilians were killed in one 48-hour stretch earlier this week, the heaviest bombing experienced in seven years.

"We are waiting our turn to die. This is the only thing I can say," said Bilal Abu Salah, 22, whose wife is five months pregnant with their first child in Douma.

"We no longer have the words to describe children's suffering and our outrage," UNICEF also said. "Do those inflicting the suffering still have words to justify their barbaric acts?"

SEE ALSO: Trump blasts Russia's actions in Syria as 'a humanitarian disgrace'

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• Israel has announced that an error indirectly led one of its planes to crash land in Syria after taking enemy fire earlier this month.
• The crash led to a military spat between Israel, Iran, and Syria amid the country's civil war.

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military says a "professional error" by a flight crew caused an air force jet to be struck and crash during an attack on a target in Syria earlier this month.

Announcing the results of an investigation, the military said Sunday that the crew did not follow "standard procedure while under enemy fire." It says the crew chose to complete the mission and did not adequately defend themselves.

The incident occurred on Feb. 10 after an Iranian drone infiltrated Israeli airspace from Syria. Israel shot down the drone and then attacked what it said was an Iranian command center. Israeli planes came under anti-aircraft fire, and one was struck. Israel responded by destroying Syrian anti-aircraft positions.

The Israeli flight crew ejected from the aircraft and landed in Israeli territory.

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• Several people suffered symptoms consistent with exposure to chlorine gas in the rebel-held eastern Ghouta district near Damascus on Sunday.
• The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based organization that reports on the war, confirmed a child had died from suffocation in eastern Ghouta but said it could not confirm if poison gas had been used.
• In recent weeks, the United States has accused Syria of repeatedly using chlorine gas as a weapon. Rebel-held areas of the Ghouta region were hit in a major chemical attack in 2013.

BEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) - Several people suffered symptoms consistent with exposure to chlorine gas in the rebel-held eastern Ghouta district near Damascus on Sunday, and one child was killed, the health authorities in the opposition-held area said in a statement.

Victims, ambulance drivers and others smelt chlorine after "an enormous explosion" in the eastern Ghouta in the area of al-Shayfouniya, said the statement issued by the local branch of the opposition Syrian Interim Government's Ministry of Health.

"At least 18 victims were treated with oxygen nebulizing sessions."

The Syrian army could not immediately be reached for comment. The Syrian government has consistently denied using chemical weapons in the war that will soon enter its eighth year.

The Russian defense ministry, which backs the Syrian government in the war, on Sunday accused rebels of preparing to use toxic agents in eastern Ghouta so they could later accuse Damascus of employing chemical weapons.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based organization that reports on the war, confirmed a child had died from suffocation in eastern Ghouta but said it could not confirm if poison gas had been used, its director told Reuters by phone.

Video circulated on social media networks purporting to show the aftermath of the attack depicted a child's corpse wrapped in a blue shroud, and several bare chested men and young boys appearing to struggle for breath, with some holding nebulizers to their mouths and noses.

Eastern Ghouta, the last major rebel stronghold near Damascus, has been targeted in a fierce government offensive that got underway last week.

The U.N. Security Council on Saturday demanded a 30-day truce across Syria. The Observatory said Sunday's bombardment of eastern Ghouta was less intense than last week, but 14 people were still killed.

In recent weeks, the United States has accused Syria of repeatedly using chlorine gas as a weapon. Rebel-held areas of the Ghouta region were hit in a major chemical attack in 2013.

Last year, a joint inquiry by the U.N. and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) found the Syrian government was responsible for an April 4, 2017 attack using the banned nerve agent sarin in the opposition-held town of Khan Sheikhoun, killing dozens of people.

The inquiry had previously found that Syrian government forces were responsible for three chlorine gas attacks in 2014 and 2015 and that Islamic State militants used mustard gas.

The Russian defense ministry said rebel leaders were "preparing a provocation with employment of toxic material, aiming at accusing the governmental forces of using chemical weapons against civilian population".

The statement was released by a Russian ceasefire monitoring center, which is run by the Russian military, and published on the defense ministry's website.

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• Leaked audio recordings said to be of Russian mercenaries in Syria capture expressions of lament and humiliation over a battle in early February involving US forces and Russian nationals.
• The audio tapes were published by Polygraph.info, a fact-checking website produced by news organizations that receive funding from the US government.
• The audio — which appears to corroborate reports from Reuters and Bloomberg that say hundreds of Russians died or were wounded in a mismatched battle — also seems to contradict statements from Russia's Foreign Ministry.

Leaked audio recordings said to be of Russian mercenaries in Syria capture expressions of lament and humiliation over a battle in early February involving US forces and Russian nationals.

Published by Polygraph.info — a fact-checking website produced by Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, news organizations that receive funding from the US government — the audio recordings paint a picture of Russian mercenaries essentially sent to die in an ill-conceived advance on a US-held position in Syria. Polygraph says the audio recordings are from a source close to the Kremlin.

The Pentagon has described the attack as "unprovoked" and started by forces loyal to the Syrian government that crossed over the Euphrates River, which functions as a border between US-backed troops and Russian-backed ones.

The Pentagon says that about 500 men began to fire on the position and that the US responded with air power and artillery strikes. The audio from Polygraph seems to confirm that while giving some insight into the feelings of the defeated forces.

Also apparent in the audio is displeasure with how Russia has responded to the situation. Initially, Russia denied that its citizens took part in the clash. Later, a representative said five may have died. Last week, Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the fight left "several dozen wounded" and that some had died.

The audio recordings, in which voices can be heard saying 200 people died "right away," appear to back up reports from Reuters, Bloomberg, and the Pentagon that roughly 100 — if not more— Russians died in the fight. Reuters has cited sources as saying the advance's purpose was to test the US's response.

Russia is thought to use military contractors in Syria rather than its military — experts speculate it's to maintain deniability for acts of war and conceal the true cost of fighting from the Russian people. The Washington Post reported last week that US intelligence reports with intercepted communications showed that a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin told a senior Syrian official he "secured permission" from the Kremlin before the advance on the US forces.

The accounts in the audio also align with reports of how the battle went down, depicting an unprepared column of troops meeting an overwhelming air response before helicopter gunships strafed the remaining ones.

Here are the translated transcripts from Polygraph:

First clip:

"The reports that are on TV about ... well, you know, about Syria and the 25 people that are wounded there from the Syrian f--- army and — well ... to make it short, we've had our asses f--- kicked. So one squadron f--- lost 200 people ... right away, another one lost 10 people ... and I don't know about the third squadron, but it got torn up pretty badly, too ... So three squadrons took a beating ... The Yankees attacked ... first they blasted the f--- out of us by artillery, and then they took four helicopters up and pushed us in a f--- merry-go-round with heavy caliber machine guns ... They were all shelling the holy f--- out of it, and our guys didn't have anything besides the assault rifles ... nothing at all, not even mentioning shoulder-fired SAMs or anything like that ... So they tore us to pieces for sure, put us through hell, and the Yankees knew for sure that the Russians were coming, that it was us, f--- Russians ... Our guys were going to commandeer an oil refinery, and the Yankees were holding it ... We got our f--- asses beat rough, my men called me ... They're there drinking now ... many have gone missing ... it's a total f--- up, it sucks, another takedown ... Everybody, you know, treats us like pieces of s--- ... They beat our asses like we were little pieces of s--- ... but our f--- government will go in reverse now, and nobody will respond or anything, and nobody will punish anyone for this ... So these are our casualties."

Second clip:

"Out of all vehicles, only one tank survived and one BRDM [armored reconnaissance vehicle] after the attack, all other BRDMs and tanks were destroyed in the first minutes of the fight, right away."

Third clip:

"Just had a call with a guy — so they basically formed a convoy, but did not get to their f--- positions by some 300 meters. One unit moved forward, the convoy remained in place, about 300 meters from the others. The others raised the American f--- flag, and their artillery started f--- ours really hard. Then their f--- choppers flew in and started f--- everybody. Ours just running around. Just got a call from a pal, so there are about 215 f--- killed. They simply rolled ours out f--- hard. Made their point. What the f--- ours were hoping for in there?! That they will f--- run away themselves? Hoped to f--- scare them away? Lots of people f--- so bad [they] can't be f--- ID'd. There was no foot soldiers [on the American side]; they simply f--- our convoy with artillery."

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• Israeli satellite images have spotted two Russian Su-57s at its Hmeimim air base in Syria, a country in which Moscow has consistently used as a testing ground for new weaponry. 
• One Russian defense ministry said the jets were sent there "for a test in real conditions.”
• Another Russian official said that the deployment will send a political message, serving as a deterrent “for aircraft from neighboring states, which periodically fly into Syrian airspace uninvited.”

Russia has deployed two of its most advanced and sophisticated stealth jets in Syria, in a power move likely to draw US criticism, as the Pentagon expressed its alarm earlier this month over recent close calls with Russian planes in the war-torn country.

Satellite images published by Israeli company ImageSat International on Friday showed the fifth-generation jets — two Su-57 fighter aircraft — at Russia’s airbase in the coastal Syrian city of Latakia. A source in the defense ministry confirmed to RBK news agency this week that the two planes were sent to the Hmeimim base “for a test in real conditions.” The jets are said to be a potential rival to the US’s Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, which American forces use in patrols over Syria.

The deployment came with a covert warning to Israel by a Russian official, who said that the presence of the Su-57s will doubtlessly send a political message, serving as a deterrent “for aircraft from neighboring states, which periodically fly into Syrian airspace uninvited.”

Speaking to the Russian news network Sputnik, Vladimir Gutenov, chairman of the Military Industry Committee in the Russian parliament, said on Friday that the jets “need to be tested in combat conditions, in conditions of [enemy] resistance.”

Since 2015, when Moscow began lending air support to the regime of President Bashar Assad and carrying out airstrikes across the country, Russia and Israel have maintained an understanding aimed at avoiding accidental confrontations between the two countries in Syrian airspace. The countries use a “hotline” to communicate on security coordination.

Earlier this month, that mechanism was tested when Israel shot down an Iranian drone that has entered Israeli airspace, leading to large-scale Israeli strikes in Syria and heavy Syrian counter-fire. An Israeli F-16 fighter jet subsequently crashed under fire from Syrian air defenses in a severe increase in tensions.

In the wake of the attacks, Israel had appealed to Russia to intervene and prevent further escalation, and conveyed to Moscow that the events were proof that its warnings of Iranian entrenchment and growing boldness in Syria were merited. Russia has subsequently called on Israel and Iran to “show restraint.”

Israel has, over the years, carried out a number of airstrikes in Syria, reportedly targeting the Iranian-backed Hezbollah cells and weapons shipments.

Meanwhile, Russia has routinely used Syria as a testing ground for weapons and latest military technology. A Russian official said earlier this week that Moscow has tested over 200 weapons during the conflict, now in its eighth year.

“As we helped the brotherly Syrian people, we tested over 200 new types of weapons,” said Vladimir Shamanov on Thursday. Shamanov is a former commander of Russia’s airborne troops, who now serves as head of the Russian Duma’s defense committee.

Earlier this month, the Pentagon voiced growing concern that the risky flying of Russian pilots in Syria could lead to a mishap — or even the nightmare scenario of a US jet shooting down a Russian warplane.

Defense officials highlighted several recent close calls with Russian planes, including one on February 14, when a pair of US F-22s intercepted two Russian jets over a part of Syria in which the Pentagon says they are not meant to be operating.

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• France 24 has published an interview with a man it describes as a Russian paramilitary chief who provides Russian citizens access to mercenary work in Syria in which he said people wanted revenge after reports that the US handily defeated hundreds of Russian fighters in a battle earlier this month.
• He also detailed a grim fate that awaits Russian mercenaries, who he says have been described to him as "minced meat" in freezers.
• The paramilitary chief also said the families of Russians killed in the attack wouldn't be informed until after Russia's election in March, most likely to avoid bad press for President Vladimir Putin.

France 24 published an interview last week with a man it described as a Russian paramilitary chief who provides Russian citizens access to mercenary work in Syria in which he said his countrymen had been galvanized by reports that they were taking an embarrassing loss to US forces.

"Each week I receive five or six new requests," the man said. "Some call me by phone; others come to see me."

He said that about 100 people in Russia's Yekaterinburg region, where he is based, were "planning to go to Syria."

The man said that after reports that US forces earlier this month crushed an advance of fighters loyal to the Syrian government — troops said to have contained hundreds of Russians — he had seen a change in the volunteers.

"Now it's more about getting revenge than it is about money," he said.

What it's like to be a Russian mercenary in Syria

Russia is believed to use military contractors in Syria rather than its military. Some experts speculate it's to conceal Russia's true combat losses in Syria while it uses its state-run media to tell citizens the operation is cheap and effective.

For Russian military contractors, the work promises brutal and dangerous conditions in which they can expect to be asked to kill to protect business or political interests. They stand to make a decent wage, but the man said many of them don't live that long.

"If you sign up with a private military company, you have sold yourself to them for money," the man said.

He added: "The company can use you however it wants. What will happen to you after your death? If you've been turned into mincemeat, so what? They put you in a bag, close the coffin and — in the best-case scenario — send you home. In the worst, they bury you there. If you are ready to earn money by killing people and defending the commercial interests of others, then that's fine."

One factor contributing to the losses of Russian contractors in Syria is a lack of air cover provided by Russia's or Syria's military, the man said.

In the battle on February 7, US airstrikes, artillery, and Apache helicopters strafed and decimated the pro-government forces, who are said to have had no anti-aircraft weaponry.

Without air power or any ability to combat aircraft, it's unclear how Russian military contractors on the ground could do any better against US-aligned forces.

The man told France 24 that 218 Russians died in the battle, while news reports have indicated as many as 300 were killed or wounded. Russia has said five citizens may have died while "several dozen" were wounded.

How is the Kremlin playing the story?

But just because Russia's military, which has considerable airpower nearby, didn't protect the Russians involved in the battle doesn't mean it didn't know about the advance.

Citing US intelligence reports with intercepted communications, The Washington Post reported last week that a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin told a senior Syrian official he had "secured permission" from the Kremlin before the advance.

Reuters has reported that the advance on US-backed forces was intended to gauge the US's response, which may have been stronger than anticipated.

The paramilitary chief told France 24 that one Russian contractor had 150 men in freezers who were described to him as "minced meat." According to the man, the families of Russians killed in the battle won't be informed until after Russia's election in March — if at all.

"We all know why," the man said. "There's no problem keeping the deaths secret."

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Israeli satellites on Saturday revealed two Russian Su-57s at its Hmeimim air base in Syria. 

A Russian official said the Su-57s were deployed to the war-torn country as a deterrent "for aircraft from neighboring states, which periodically fly into Syrian airspace uninvited."

Additional satellite images from July 2017 also showed 10 other kinds of Russian jets and planes, 33 aircraft altogether, stationed at its air base in Latakia.

There's probably, however, more than 33, as some jets and aircraft could have been conducting sorties or flying elsewhere when the images were taken.

Moscow first sent fighter jets to Syria in 2015 to help the Assad government, which is a large purchaser of Russian arms. In the last few months, Russia and the Syrian regime have increased bombing runs in Idlib and Eastern Ghouta, killing, injuring and displacing thousands of civilians. 

Here are the 11 kinds of military jets and planes Russia has in Syria now:

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1. Su-57

The Israeli satellite images showed two Su-57s at Hmeimim air base.

The Su-57 is Russia's first fifth-generation stealth jet, but they are only fitted with the AL-41F1 engines, the same engine on the Su-35, and not the Izdelie-30 engine, which is still undergoing testing. 

2. Su-24

The satellite images from July showed 11 Su-24 Fencers, but that number might now be 10, since one Fencer crashed in October, killing both pilots.

The Su-24 is one of Russia's older aircraft and will eventually be replaced by the Su-34, but it can still carry air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles, as well as laser-guided bombs.

3. Su-25

The July satellite images showed three Su-25 Frogfoots.

The Frogfoot is another of Russia's older attack aircraft. It's designed to make low-flying attack runs and is comparable to the US's legendary A-10 Warthog. 

Su-25s had flown more than 1,600 sorties and dropped more than 6,000 bombs by March 2016, just six months after their arrival in Syria.  

One Su-25 was also shot down by Syrian rebels and shot the pilot before he blew himself up with a grenade in early February 2017.

• Fighting raged on in the eastern Ghouta district of Syria on Tuesday, the United Nations said, despite a five-hour ceasefire called by President Bashar al-Assad's ally Russia.
• The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said helicopters dropped two bombs on one town in the enclave and a warplane struck another town during the truce, but Syria denied it.
• Eastern Ghouta, where the U.N. says around 400,000 people live, is a major target for Assad, whose forces have clawed back numerous areas with military backing from Russia and Iran.

BEIRUT/GENEVA (Reuters) - Fighting raged on in the eastern Ghouta district of Syria on Tuesday, the United Nations said, despite a five-hour ceasefire called by President Bashar al-Assad's ally Russia.

"We have reports this morning there is continuous fighting in eastern Ghouta," UN humanitarian spokesman Jens Laerke told a briefing in Geneva. "Clearly the situation on the ground is not such that convoys can go in or medical evacuations can go out."

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said helicopters dropped two bombs on one town in the enclave and a warplane struck another town during the truce. A Syrian military source denied that there had been air strikes. Reuters was not immediately able to verify either report.

Hundreds of people have died during 10 days of government bombardment of the eastern Ghouta, a rebel-held area of towns and farms on the outskirts of Damascus. The assault has been among the most devastating air campaigns of a war now entering its eighth year.

A U.N. Security Council resolution passed on Saturday called for a 30-day ceasefire across the entire country, but this excludes some militant groups which Damascus says its forces have been battling in eastern Ghouta.

"It is a question life and death - if ever there was a question of life and death - we need a 30-day cessation of hostilities in Syria as the Security Council demands," said Laerke, spokesman of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA).

Russia had called Tuesday's five-hour truce in the enclave to allow a safe route for wounded to be evacuated and civilians to escape. Moscow and Damascus accuse rebels of attacking this humanitarian corridor to prevent civilians from leaving. Rebels deny this.

Eastern Ghouta had initially been mostly calm after the ceasefire took effect at 9 a.m. (0700 GMT), the Observatory and residents said, though state television reported that insurgents had shelled an evacuation route.

Eastern Ghouta, where the U.N. says around 400,000 people live, is a major target for Assad, whose forces have clawed back numerous areas with military backing from Russia and Iran.

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• Russia said its recent deployment of two of its new Su-57 fighter jets to Syria would scare off other countries from flying their planes in Syrian airspace.
• But the Su-57 is a long way from being combat ready, and it's unreasonable to think the US, Israel, or Turkey would be deterred from operations in Syria by two of the unproven jets. 
• Russian officials also said the deployment would be a good chance to test out the jet in combat conditions, but experts told Business Insider that the plane is designed for high-flying air-to-air combat, not bombing near-defenseless ground targets, which is Russia's declared mission in Syria.

Russia deployed two Su-57 advanced fighter jets to Syria in a move widely seen as a marketing ploy for the troubled plane that's struggled to attract international investment, but they recently hinted at another purpose behind the deployment.

The Times of Israel reports that Russia gave a "covert warning" to the Jewish state by saying the Su-57 will serve as a deterrent "for aircraft from neighboring states, which periodically fly into Syrian airspace uninvited."

The veiled warning comes after Israel and Syria had a heated air battle with Syrian air defenses downing an Israeli F-16. Israel said that it took out half of Syria's air defenses in return.

In an opinion piece in the New York Times, Ronan Bergman reported that Israel planned a larger response to Syria's downing of their jet, but a "furious phone call" between Russian President Vladimir Putin, Syria's ally, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

But whatever the two heads of state said on the phone, it's unlikely the Su-57 had anything to do with it. The Su-57, as it is today, doesn't pose a threat to Western fighters despite being Russia's newest and most advanced fighter jet. It awaits a pair of new engines and has significant problems flying and releasing bombs at supersonic speeds.

"I don't think anyone is too worried about a kinetic threat from Su-57s over Syria in its current state," Justin Bronk, a combat aviation expert at the Royal United Services Institute, told Business Insider.

Bronk pointed to problems with the Su-57 integrating its radar into data the pilot can actually use in the cockpit, and difficulties in getting the jet to drop bombs properly, calling it "far from combat ready."

Though the Su-57's advanced and "innovative" radar set up could pose a threat to US stealth aircraft like the F-22, also operating in Syria, by scoping out its radar signatures and helping inform future battle plans, it's just not ready for a fight with Israel, the US, or even Turkey.

A commercial for a struggling Russian military export?

Another Russian official gave Russian media an additional reason for the Su-57's presence in Syria that seemed to confirm Western analysis that the deployment is a marketing ploy and test run for the unproven jet.

The official said the jet had a "need to be tested in combat conditions, in conditions of [enemy] resistance."

Yet another Russian official said in Russian media that "as we helped the brotherly Syrian people, we tested over 200 new types of weapons," which have included very advanced systems like submarine-launched cruise missiles designed for high-end warfighting.

But as Bronk pointed out, "the only declared combat which the Russian air contingent in Syria is engaged in is bombing rebel and Daesh forces in support of Assad's ground forces," which he added was "hardly relevant for the air-superiority optimized Su-57."

Essentially, all Russia's air force does in Syria is bomb rebel ground targets. In years of fighting, the bombings have only demonstrated one occasion that the target had anti-air defenses. On that one occasion, the rebels downed a Russian Su-25.

As a result, Bronk said the Su-57s "will no doubt fly above 15,000 feet to avoid" those missiles, meaning the new Russian jet won't really be flying in combat conditions, only bombing defenseless targets.

Not really in combat, not really a threat

So why do they need a next-generation, stealth fighter built to dogfight with US F-22s and F-35s that isn't ready for combat yet? Bronk said the bombing campaign in Syria is "absolutely not the mission set [the Su-57s] are designed for."

Retired US Air Force Lt. Gen. David Deptula, now the Dean of the Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Power Studies, told Business Insider that it's a chance for Russia to test out its new jet where they "don't have to pay for training ranges," and concurred with Bronk's assessment that the plane is not yet able to fully fight. 

So while Russia may have found a frugal way to boost the profile of an airplane they're desperate to sell by testing it out in Syria's almost eight-year-long civil war, nobody familiar with the state of the plane would take it seriously as an air-to-air threat.

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• Syrian government forces and allied militias gained ground on Wednesday in clashes with rebels in eastern Ghouta near Damascus as fighting raged despite a Russian ceasefire plan, according to a war monitor.
• The Russian plan is for daily, five-hour ceasefires in eastern Ghouta, but after a brief lull, the agreement collapsed into renewed bombardment on Tuesday, the first day of the plan.
• Syria blamed the rebels for breaking the truce by shelling Damascus, insurgents denied such shelling, and a senior U.S. general accused Moscow of acting as "both arsonist and firefighter" by failing to rein in Assad.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian government forces and allied militias gained ground on Wednesday in clashes with rebels in eastern Ghouta near Damascus as fighting raged despite a Russian ceasefire plan, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

The government forces advanced in the Hawsh al-Dawahira area on the eastern edge of the opposition's besieged stronghold, the Observatory reported. The Syrian army and rebel sources could not immediately be reached for comment on the report.

The Russian plan is for daily, five-hour ceasefires in eastern Ghouta from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. (0700 GMT to 1200 GMT). But after a brief lull, the agreement collapsed into renewed bombardment on Tuesday, the first day of the plan.

Eastern Ghouta, where the United Nations says around 400,000 people live, is a major target for President Bashar al-Assad, who has recovered numerous areas from rebels with Russian and Iranian military backing.

On Feb. 18, the government and its allies began one of the heaviest bombardments of Syria's seven-year conflict on eastern Ghouta, killing hundreds of people in air and artillery strikes, the Observatory and local rescue workers say.

It led the U.N. Security Council to pass a resolution on Saturday calling for a full, 30-day humanitarian ceasefire reaching across all of Syria but excluding some jihadist groups.

Moscow and Damascus blamed rebels for the collapse of the truce on Tuesday, saying fighters had shelled a safe route intended for civilians to leave the enclave.

The insurgents denied such shelling, and a senior U.S. general accused Moscow of acting as "both arsonist and firefighter" by failing to rein in Assad.

A Syrian military source said the corridor was open for a second day on Wednesday to allow civilians, the sick and wounded to leave eastern Ghouta. But state TV reported that no civilians had left the area on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Rebels say people will not leave eastern Ghouta because of fear of the Syrian government. The eastern Ghouta is an area of farmland and towns that represents the rebels' last major stronghold near Damascus.

Shelling

Rebels have intensified shelling of nearby government-held Damascus. A medical official in the capital said on Monday 36 people had been killed in four days. Damascus and Moscow say the campaign in eastern Ghouta is needed to halt such shelling.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday the plan would allow aid to be delivered to eastern Ghouta.

But the United Nations said it was proving impossible to aid civilians or evacuate wounded, and said all sides must instead abide by the 30-day truce sought by the U.N. Security Council.

With no sign of decisive international pressure to stop the attack, eastern Ghouta seems likely to meet the same fate as other areas won back by the government, where rebels and dissident civilians eventually left in negotiated withdrawals.

The multi-sided Syrian war has killed hundreds of thousands of people and driven half of the pre-war population of 23 million from their homes. Fighting has escalated on several fronts this year, with the collapse of Islamic State giving rise to conflict between other Syrian and foreign parties.

As Assad has pressed the offensive against eastern Ghouta, Turkey has launched an incursion against Kurdish fighters in the northwestern Afrin region. Tensions have also flared between Iran and Israel, alarmed by Tehran's influence in Syria. Syrian air defenses shot down an Israeli F-16 earlier this month as it returned from a bombing raid on Iran-backed positions in Syria.

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GENEVA (Reuters) - A senior U.S. disarmament official said on Wednesday that Russia has violated its commitments as guarantor of the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile and preventing the Assad government from using them.

Robert Wood, U.S. disarmament ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament, told reporters in Geneva shortly before Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov addressed the forum: "Russia is on the wrong side of history with regard to chemical weapons use in Syria."

Wood, asked about a reported nexus of cooperation between North Korea and Syria, replied: "Clearly there has been a history of a relationship between North Korea and Syria with regard to missile activity, chemical weapons components."

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• A 15-year-old boy named Muhammad Najem, who lives in Syria's Eastern Ghouta, is tweeting pictures and videos of his region under attack from Russian and Syrian airstrikes.
• His images and videos have not been independently verified, but activists on the ground have said that he is "legit."
• Russian trolls have begun attacking him on social media. 

15-year-old Muhammed Najem, who lives in the heavily bombarded area of Eastern Ghouta in Syria, first tweeted in early December 2017.

"I am Muhammed Najem I am fifteen years old I live in the eastern Gouta," Najem tweeted on December 7. "I will convey to you all the events which is being commited by the assad rigime in the Eastern Gouta through my own social media Facebook and Twitter."

Najem, who says he wants to be a reporter, has since posted several heartbreaking photos and videos of children and adults killed in airstrikes, some of whom he says were his friends.

In early January, Russia and the Syrian regime stepped up airstrikes in Eastern Ghouta outside of Damascus. Between February 4 and February 21 alone, 346 civilians were killed and at least 878 more were wounded, according to Airwars.

More than 250 civilians were killed in one 48-hour period last week, and 400,000 people are currently trapped in what the UN has called "hell on earth."

In one of Najem's most gut-wrenching videos, he's standing on a rooftop speaking to the camera.

"We are killed by your silence," Najem says to the camera. "Bashar al-Assad, Putin and — " a bomb suddenly hits, and he pauses, clearly shaken, before finishing, "Khamenei. Khamenei killed our childhood."

While CNN, The Guardian, BuzzFeed News, and other outlets have reported on Najem, the authenticity of his photos and videos have not been independently verified.

But Kenan Rahmani, who works with the Syria Campaign, told BuzzFeed News that his sources in the region have said that Najem is "legit."

Still, this has not stopped Russian trolls from attacking Najem on social media.

"CNN found a new Bana to promote its regime change narrative," Dan Cohen, a Russia Today correspondent, tweeted last week. "Unsurprisingly, neither the article nor video bother to mention that eastern Ghouta is held by a collection of jihadist insurgents."

The reality on the ground is more nuanced than Cohen claims. Ghouta is held by a number of Syrian rebel groups, one linked to the Free Syrian Army, which formed as an opposition group against Assad in 2011. Another smaller rebel group reportedly has links to al-Qaeda.

"Hello Amirecan people," Najem tweeted on Monday. "We are people of Eastern Gouta The world watching us die of hunger and bombing Look at this destruction This is similar to Europe before 80 years ago But We live today in twenty first century #Help us and donot be like the rest of the world."

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• After a massive battle that multiple reports cite as resulting in hundreds of dead Russian military contractors, Russian job listing websites are reportedly offering more high-paid work in the "security" field.
• The ads seek recruits with good physical fitness who can go on "business trips" to Ukraine or Syria for about three months.
• A Russian paramilitary official recently told France24 that Russian men were volunteering not for money, but for revenge.

After a massive battle that multiple reports cite as resulting in hundreds of dead Russian military contractors, Russian job listing websites are reportedly offering more high-paid work in the "security" field.

A Ukranian website posted several screenshots from Russian job listing websites offering high-paid but vague jobs for those willing to work on "security" projects abroad, and reported that such listings have spiked sharply in February, when the battle took place.

The ads seek recruits with good physical fitness who can go on "business trips" to Ukraine or Syria for about three months. Russia stands accused of sending "little green men" or military contractors without proper Russian military uniforms or affiliation, to wage war in those two countries.

Multiple reports state that Russia's reason for using military contractors in Syria, where it is fighting against insurgents who oppose Syrian President Bashar Assad, is to conceal the true cost of the war to Russian servicemen.

But the conditions for the contractors are reportedly bleak. Hundreds of Russian mercenaries were reportedly routed in a battle with US airpower, against which they were defenseless. Alleged leaked audio from Russian paramilitary commanders captures them lamenting the unwise battle, and expressing humiliation at their sound defeat.

Russian officials admit to only a few Russian nationals dying in battles, and several dozen wounded, but all other reporting of the battle portrays severe losses for the pro-government side, which many say was mostly Russian.

A Russian paramilitary official recently told France24 that he had 150 men in freezers in Syria as "minced meat," and that their mortal remains won't even be returned to their family until after Russia's presidential election in March. The official, however, said that now Russian men were volunteering not for money, but for revenge.

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PARIS (Reuters) - France's Emmanuel Macron and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed on Friday to work together to implement a United Nations-backed ceasefire in Syria and called on Russia to exert its influence over Damascus, the Elysee Palace said in a statement.

Macron and Trump spoke by telephone to discuss the situation in Syria, and the enforcement of a ceasefire aimed at ending hostilities, opening access to humanitarian aid in eastern Ghouta and evacuating the wounded.

The two leaders agreed that Russia needed to "unambiguously exert maximum pressure on the regime in Damascus" for it to abide by the ceasefire, the statement said.

Macron also reiterated that France would have a "firm response" if it transpired chemical weapons led to the death of civilians in Syria.

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• An article in "Military Review," a publication of the US Army, concludes that Russia has "won at least a partial victory in Syria, and done so with "impressive efficiency, flexibility, and coordination between military and political action."
• But it is unclear what "winning" might actually mean, especially since so much of Syria has been destroyed.
• The conflict of the future may be between Russia and Iran over who is in charge in the region.

I was interested to see in an article in the new issue of “Military Review,” a publication of the U.S. Army, conclude that, “Russia appears to have won at least a partial victory in Syria, and done so with impressive efficiency, flexibility, and coordination between military and political action.” 

Looking at Putin, the article states that “the Russian campaign might be judged a qualified success from the standpoint of the Kremlin’s own objective.”

As for the United States, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, the authors (who are not Army employees—one is at the Center for Naval Analyses, and the other is at the Kennan Institute) conclude “it is certainly a defeat for those who opposed the Russian-led coalition.”

On the other hand, I thought as I read this grim assessment, military victory does not guarantee political success–as the U.S. whole of government has demonstrated so well in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

I have to wonder, is winning Syria really that big a prize? Or will there be a sequel (“Syria II: Putin vs. the Ayatollahs”) in which Russia grapples with Iran over who is in charge?

Interesting side note from the article, something I didn’t know: “Russian drones are rumored to have flown more sorties than manned aviation over Syria.

The best Russian drones were licensed production variants of Israeli models—a product of Russian-Israeli defense cooperation. Despite substantial spending on development, Russia still has no armed unmanned aircraft systems, and thus lacks a real time recon-strike option for its drone platforms.” 

Worth keeping this grain of salt in mind when Putin goes shooting his mouth off about all the fancy new weapons he has.

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