According to several reports, a Russian soldier was killed and several others were injured by Turkish shelling in Northern Syria on Monday.
Accordingly, Turkish forces and it’s ally, the ‘Syrian National Army’ (SNA), bombed the area around the town of Tall Rifaat. A Turkish drone hit a Russian transport vehicle. A soldier was said to have been killed in the incident while the wounded were transferred to nearby hospitals.
The Al-Shahba region around the town of Tall Rifaat is under constant attack by the Turkish army and its Syrian allies. Tens of thousands of displaced people live here from the predominantly Kurdish region of Afrin, which has been occupied by Turkey for over five years. Russian and Syrian soldiers are also stationed in the region as part of a deal.
Despite the seriousness of the incident in Northern Syria, the Kremlin showed no public reaction or commented on the incident. Last year, Russia launched a dialogue between Syria and Turkey, seeking to normalize relations between the two countries. In this regard, several high-level talks have already taken place in Moscow, to which Iran was recently invited. Turkey plays a neutral role in the war in Ukraine, although the position of NATO, of which Turkey is a member, is clearly anti-Russian. In this respect, it seems as if the Kremlin has no interest in publicly denouncing this incident and thus, does not want to jeopardize the relatively good diplomacy with Turkey, even though there was military aggression against the Russian army.