Russia’s Defense Ministry says five of its soldiers and four Russian television reporters have been injured by a mine explosion in eastern Syria.
Russian news agencies quoted the ministry as saying that a controlled land mine was detonated by “terrorists” in the city of Deir al-Zor on November 6, wounding two journalists working for NTV and another two from Zvezda.
Five soldiers who were clearing the area of mines were also wounded, it added.
The ministry said all those wounded were taken to the Russian air base in the coastal Syrian province of Latakia.
"According to medics, their lives are out of danger," it said.
Russia has been the strongest backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a six-year civil war that has killed and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.
Backed by Russian air strikes, the Syrian Army and allied forces last week captured Deir al-Zor, the largest city in eastern Syria, from the Islamic State (IS) extremist group.
IS militants had controlled most of the city since 2014, except for one large pocket where Syrian Army troops and 93,000 civilians had been holed up for three years.
The city is the capital of Syria's main oil-producing province, which is also called Deir al-Zor.
