Russia Blames ‘Two-Faced’ US for Killing General in Syria—Moscow Will View it As Declaration of War
The recent killing of a Russian general in Syria is almost certain to be seen by Moscow as an act of war by the United States.
By Jay Syrmopoulos
TheFreeThoughtProject.com
September 28, 2017
In what is almost certain to be construed by the Russian government as an act of war, this week, three high-ranking Russian officers were killed in an attack attributed to ISIS in eastern Syria—but which was much more likely the work of U.S. special forces or insurgents operating under their control.
A Russian three-star general and two colonels were killed while visiting a Syrian army command center in Deir ez-Zor in a mortar attack publicly attributed to ISIS forces.
Lieutenant-General Valery Asapov, of the Russian armed forces, was killed after coming under shelling from Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) militants near Deir ez-Zor, the Russian Defense Ministry has announced.
Immediately after his death, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that the “two-faced policy” of the United States was to blame for the death of Russian Lieutenant-General Valery Asapov in Syria, the RIA news agency quoted him as saying.
“The death of the Russian commander is the price, the bloody price, for two-faced American policy in Syria,” Ryabkov told reporters, according to RIA.
“The American side declares that it is interested in the elimination of IS … but some of its actions show it is doing the opposite and that some political and geopolitical goals are more important for Washington,” Ryabkov was quoted as saying.
Asapov, commander of the 5th Army in Russia’s Eastern Military District, one of the four strategic commands in the Russian Armed Forces, is the highest-ranking Russian officer to be killed in the Syrian campaign.
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