He writes that the objective was not the Conoco oil installation, but the US SF that were embedded there. If they had succeeded with it it would be a blow to the US prestige in the region and would result in the withdrawal of US forces like in Lebanon 1984 and Somalia 1994.
Russian Army build a bridge. but on February 6, the water level in the Euphrates suddenly rose by several meters, and the speed of the current increased two-fold.
The next day the bridge was demolished, and the Wagner Group was cut off, but still started the operation.
The Russian military believes that the discharge of water originated from the reservoir of El Tabbah HPP upstream, that is controlled by the SDF units.
The Russians started the attack in the evening when it was dark believing that US forced would be unable to discriminate between friends and foes and refrain from counter attacking. In other words they assume that the situation was similar to the eastern parts of Ukraine.
All communications to and from the Wagner groups were suppressed by http://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104486/ac-130u/ and the result could only be one.
Colonel-General Alexander Zhuravlev will have a tough time explaining what happened and the battle has diminished the morale of the Russian forces with big consequences.
https://www.novayagazeta.ru/articles/2018/02/20/75571-razgrom
Wagner group consists of more than 3600 persons, and the running cost (no definition of what that is) is 17.4 billion rubles.
It started 2013 as Slavonic Corps Ltd. in Hong Kong and offered salary of $5000 and were first opposed by the Russian State and FSB arrested their leaders. But soon Kremlin understood the value in having such a group and there were engaged both in Syria and in Donbas / Ukraine.
The fighters were transported by the 76th Airborne Division, Pskov Region, to Syria.
https://newizv.ru/news/politics/21-02-2018/uzhe-ne-tayna-stalo-izvestno-skolko-boytsov-v-chvk-vagner
Quoting Girkin/Strelkov, see above. But read the comments after the article:
it wasn’t just five Russians killed in the American raid – it was 218. (US officials have said about 100 pro-regime fighters were killed, without specifying whether they were Syrian army, Russian or other forces.)
However, the paramilitary chief said only 150 bodies have so far been recovered.
“There are 150 people in refrigerators on the Wagner base” back in Russia, he said. “Their state? ‘Minced meat’ is how they described them to me.”
Even so, the chief doesn’t feel much sympathy for those who died; he believes it is a fate they chose.
http://www.france24.com/en/20180223-russia-fighters-syria-exclusive-interview-mercenary-wagner
The next article is asking the typical Russian reaction: “Who is responsible”, and how it can be used by Putin.
http://censoru.net/24865-nashi-russkie-zhirinovskiy-progovorilsya-o-gibeli-vagnerovcev-v-sirii.html
According to the next article it was actually Russian SF and 257 are KIA.
https://www.segodnya.ua/world/russia/zavalili-kadrovyh-volonter-na-primere-razgroma-chvk-vagner-obyasnil-ischeznovenie-putina-1116623.html