Defense spokesman Igor Konashenkov said: "There is no such thing as the secret deaths of Russian soldiers in Syria. The attempts to include individuals who have no involvement with the Syrian armed forces in the list of those killed in the war are all lies from start to finish."
The statement was made in response to a Reuters article, saying that Russia's human resource losses in Syria in 2017 skyrocketed.
According to Mr. Konashenkov, Reuters has repeatedly discredited Russia's anti-IS activities to bring peace to Syria.
"It is unforgettable that Reuters published an article on the 'multiple deaths' caused by 'Russia bombing' in Aleppo in early 2017, when no Russian plane had approached the city. The news agency also closed its eyes to evidence of the brutal actions of rebels in Aleppo or the mass deaths of civilians in Raqqa and Mosul due to US-led alliance bombings," TASS quoted Konashenkov as saying.
"Once again, rumors, information on social networks, fake dialogues, relatives, unnamed acquaintances... are used as sources. The Russian Defense Ministry knows clearly who is behind this article and who is helping prepare the information," Konashenkov stressed.
"Unlike the British soldiers in Syria who are accused of fighting against illegal terrorism, Russian soldiers sacrifice their lives and sometimes die while carrying out humanitarian aid missions to Syria or trying to reconcile the fighters," the Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson said.
