Russia's RIA news agency quoted a Russian Foreign Ministry source as saying on Wednesday that "Media reports about hundreds of Russians killed while fighting in Syria are 'classic disinformation'"

Associates of Russian military contractors fighting alongside government forces in Syria have said there were large-scale casualties among the contractors when US-led coalition forces clashed with pro-government forces in Syria's Deir al-Zor province on Feb. 7.

Russian officials have stressed that no members of its armed forces were involved in the incident.