Pentagon Denies U.S.-Russia Combat Strike Coordination

The Pentagon on Monday denied a claim from the Russian Defense Ministry that the country’s planes flew a combat mission in Syria alongside U.S.-led coalition forces. The spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve, the counter-ISIS coalition, said in a statement that the U.S. is not “coordinating airstrikes” with Russia in war-torn Syria. “DoD maintains a channel of communication with the Russian military focused solely on ensuring the safety of aircrews and de-confliction of Coalition and Russian operations in Syria,” the statement continued. A U.S. defense official echoed that sentiment to The Daily Beast reporter Kim Dozier.