--- title: Mike Pompeo Confirms Hundreds of Russians Killed in Syria description: Mike Pompeo confirmed Thursday that "a couple hundred Russians were killed" by U.S. forces in Syria earlier this year. canonical: https://time.com/5237922/mike-pompeo-russia-confirmation/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-04-12T17:00:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T19:57:15.968Z article:section: Politics og:title: Pompeo Confirms Hundreds of Russians Killed In U.S. Attack in Syria og:description: A U.S. official previously said that no Russian forces were killed. og:url: https://time.com/5237922/mike-pompeo-russia-confirmation/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt273e45526987963c/69892d7efb4eac0152896533/mike-pompeo-russia-syria.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: mike pompeo russia syria og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Pompeo Confirms Hundreds of Russians Killed In U.S. Attack in Syria twitter:description: A U.S. official previously said that no Russian forces were killed. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt273e45526987963c/69892d7efb4eac0152896533/mike-pompeo-russia-syria.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump's Pick for Secretary of State Just Confirmed 'Hundreds' of Russians Were Killed in a U.S. Attack in Syria > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=194c3706-2a7d-49bd-9361-94d3964868c8&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1)  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Apr 12, 2018 5:00 PM UTC  Secretary of State nominee Mike Pompeo speaks during his confirmation hearing before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill, on April 12 Secretary of State nominee Mike Pompeo speaks during his confirmation hearing before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill, on April 12 Mark Wilson—Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Apr 12, 2018 5:00 PM UTC President Trump’s nominee to serve as Secretary of State confirmed Thursday that “a couple hundred Russians were killed” by U.S. forces in Syria earlier this year. Mike Pompeo, who currently serves as CIA director, offered the confirmation in response to questions about the U.S. relationship with Russia. The February attack by U.S. special forces — acknowledged at the time by Russian and Syrian officials but until now unconfirmed by the U.S. — targeted pro-government Syrian forces who were working alongside Russian mercenaries. “In Syria, now, a handful of weeks ago the Russian met their match,” Pompeo told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “A couple hundred Russians were killed.” A U.S. official [previously](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-13/u-s-strikes-said-to-kill-scores-of-russian-fighters-in-syria) said that the U.S. had communicated with Russia prior to the attack and no Russian government forces were killed. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5237922/mike-pompeo-russia-confirmation/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5237922/mike-pompeo-russia-confirmation/"},"headline":"President Trump's Pick for Secretary of State Just Confirmed 'Hundreds' of Russians Were Killed in a U.S. Attack in Syria","datePublished":"2018-04-12T17:00:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:57:15.968Z","description":"Mike Pompeo confirmed Thursday that \"a couple hundred Russians were killed\" by U.S. forces in Syria earlier this year.","url":"https://time.com/5237922/mike-pompeo-russia-confirmation/","keywords":["Syria","russia","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt273e45526987963c/69892d7efb4eac0152896533/mike-pompeo-russia-syria.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt273e45526987963c/69892d7efb4eac0152896533/mike-pompeo-russia-syria.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"mike pompeo russia syria","caption":"mike pompeo russia syria","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/syria/","name":"Syria"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5237922/mike-pompeo-russia-confirmation/","name":"President Trump's Pick for Secretary of State Just Confirmed 'Hundreds' of Russians Were Killed in a U.S. Attack in Syria"}}]}] ```