MOSCOW, July 11 (Xinhua) -- The Russian defense ministry has denied media reports about the alleged deaths of Russian servicemen in Syria.
"There has been no losses among Russian servicemen either in the province of Daraa or in the entire Syria," the ministry said in the statement on Tuesday night.
The ministry also called the media reports fake, and the information was "deliberately spread" by the Islamic State group.
"All Russian troops are safe and are doing their job routinely," the ministry added.
Earlier, a number of media reports said 35 Russian and Syrian servicemen died in a suicide bombing attack in southern Syria.
Russia has participated in anti-terrorist operations in Syria since September 2015 at the request of the Syrian government. However, under an order of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russia began withdrawing troops from the war-torn Middle East country in December 2017.
According to Russian authorities, two Russian military bases will be kept in Syria, the Hmeymim military airfield and the Tartus naval base, under an agreement with the Syrian government.
