Moscow denies IS captives are Russian soldiers

Russia has said media reports claiming two Russian soldiers were captured by ISIL in Syria “are hardly official information”.
Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the Russian presidency, said on Wednesday that the reports should be viewed with caution but confirmed that authorities were checking whether the two captives are Russian citizens.
Peskov’s statement came hours after the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant released a video showing what the armed group claimed were two Russian men captured in Al-Shalo village in Deir Az Zor province.
In the video posted to ISIL’s Amaq website, a man speaking in Russian identifies himself as Roman Zabolotny from Rostovskaya region and says he was captured during an ISIL offensive in the village along with the man sitting next to him, whom he identifies as Gregory Tsurkanu Domodedovski region.
On Tuesday evening, the Russian ministry of defence said in a statement to Russian news agency RIA that none of its military personnel located in Syria had been captured.
According to Russian media reports, Zabolotny is a member of a Cossack organisation called Aksayska yurta.
Tsurkanu’s brother Roman told local media that he was part of a private military company called Wagner and that he had been to Syria more than four years ago.
Wagner is the nom de guerre of Dmitry Utkin, a former Russian military officer.
In August 2016, Russian media outlet RBK reported that the use of Wagner mercenaries has cost Russia up to $170m since October 2015.
Maria Okuneva, a defence ministry spokesman, told Al Jazeera that she could not comment on whether Zaobolotny and Turskanu are Russian military personnel.
Russian mercenaries?
According to Ruslan Leviev, a Moscow-based military researcher, both men are likely to be Russian mercenaries who were sent to fight in Deir Az Zor.
He told Al Jazeera that Russia uses mercenaries who are mostly Russian citizens at the frontlines of Syria’s war. By placing them in heavy battles, Russia can keep low the official number of troops killed, he said.
Deaths of mercenaries are not officially reported but according to Leviev, they could be in the hundreds.
Also on Tuesday, the Russian defence ministry announced that it had killed 12 military commanders of the hardline group formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra (currently known as Hay’et Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS).
In a statement, it said it had also injured Abu Mohammed al-Joulani, head of HTS, claiming he had lost his arm and was in critical condition.
According to Ahmad Aba Zeid, a Syrian researcher, the HTS has not responded officially to Russia’s claims. Some of its supporters have denied that Joulani was injured, however.
“If Joulani dies, the HTS will disintegrate into various small groups,” Aba Zeid told Al Jazeera.
Meanwhile, there were air strikes on Abu Alduhur airport and Reef Mohandeseen in the southern part of Aleppo province. Both host HTS headquarters, according to Aba Zeid.