Leaked video shows Russian Marines in Syrian firefight despite ceasefire

The Russian Marines are officially replacing the Syrian Arab Army’s “Tiger Forces” along the strategic demilitarized highway in northern Aleppo, according to Almasdar News.

The deployment of Russian troops to checkpoints follows a cease-fire deal that was reached over the weekend, after a marathon of negotiations between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

By evening Wednesday, there were no reports of major violations of the agreement, which calls on all parties to hold their fire, allowing only for airstrikes against the Islamic State extremist group and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, the group formerly known as the Nusra Front, according to the Associated Press.

New video evidence, reported by RT, purports to contradict the report that there have been no “major violations” since the ceasefire began.

The video of Russian Marines engaging in a firefight at a checkpoint in Aleppo during an interview of a two military representatives, one from the Russian Marines and the other from the Syrian Arab Army, surfaced on Tuesday.

The video appears to show the Russian troops defending a checkpoint from an ambush on their left flank.

Secretary of State John Kerry spoke to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday and they agreed that “as a whole, despite sporadic reports of violence, the arrangement is holding and violence is significantly lower,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.

In the end of July, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was mistrusting of Russia’s intentions when they moved soldiers into Aleppo to open “humanitarian corridors” -similar to their most recent actions.

“It has the risk, if it is a ruse, of completely breaking apart the level of cooperation,” Kerry said, according to Reuters.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters the most recent ceasefire agreement, “as a whole, despite sporadic reports of violence…is holding and violence is significantly lower.”

In the lead-up to the cease-fire, 40 days of fighting in Aleppo killed nearly 700 civilians, including 160 children, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The chief of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Wednesday there were no reported civilian casualties in the first 36 hours of the cease-fire, according to the Associated Press. 

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