MOSCOW, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Turkish soldiers who came under Syrian troops' fire in Syria's Idlib Province on Thursday were in terrorist groups' combat formations, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement Friday.
The statement said that the formations of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorist group on Thursday attempted to conduct a large-scale offensive on the positions of the Syrian government forces in the Idlib de-escalation zone.
To eliminate threats to Turkish observation posts and units in the Idlib de-escalation zone from retaliatory fire by Syrian government forces, the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of the Warring Parties has maintained constant contact with the Turkish Idlib Coordination Center, the statement added.
Representatives of the Russian center have constantly requested and got from their Turkish colleagues the coordinates of the location of all units of the Turkish armed forces located near terrorist combat zones, it said.
According to the coordinates provided by the Turkish colleagues, there should not be any units of the Turkish armed forces in the area of Behun, where the terrorists launched the offensive, the statement said.
It said the Russian side took "comprehensive measures" to ensure a complete ceasefire by the Syrian forces and safe evacuation of the dead and wounded Turkish troops to Turkey immediately after receiving information about the victims among the Turkish militants.
