Washington (CNN) The Pentagon slammed Russia's military on Thursday for what it called "deliberately provocative and aggressive behavior" that injured multiple US military personnel following a collision between American and Russian armored vehicles in eastern Syria. "Russian forces breached our deconfliction arrangement in Syria and injured U.S. service members with their deliberately provocative and aggressive behavior," Chief Pentagon Spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement, the Defense Department's first public comments about Tuesday's incident. "We have advised the Russians that their behavior was dangerous and unacceptable. We expect a return to routine and professional deconfliction in Syria and reserve the right to defend our forces vigorously whenever their safety is put at risk," he added. The Russian statement claimed the US had been notified of the movements of the Russian convoy and that the collision had occurred after the US troops tried to block the Russian patrol.

Source: CNN August 27, 2020 21:45 UTC