Turkish troops hit by shelling in Idlib should not have been there: Russia

Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Friday that Turkish troops hit by shelling on Feb. 27 should not have been in the Syrian area where they were and that Ankara had not informed Moscow in advance about their location, the RIA news agency reported.

It said Turkish forces had not communicated their presence in the area, “where they should not have been.”

The ministry said, however, that Russian war planes had not carried out strikes in the area where Turkish troops were and that Russia had done everything to ensure the Syrian army ceased fire to allow the troops to evacuate.

“The Russian air force is not used in this zone,” the ministry added.

Russia said that the Turkish troops who came under fire by the Syrian army were among “terrorists.”

On Thursday “Turkish soldiers who were in the battle formations of terrorist groups came under the fire of Syrian troops,” the defence ministry said in a statement.