Various social media accounts belonging to the PKK's Syrian offshoot, the People's Protection Units (YPG), shared pictures of YPG members raising the Russian flag in the north Syrian province of Manbij, amid efforts to prevent the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the Free Syrian Army's (FSA) offensive in the region, Turkish Habertürk daily reported.

The pictures, shared on Sunday, also showed YPG fighters flying U.S. flags on their vehicles while patrolling in Manbij. Previously, during the Assad regime's Aleppo offensive, a video that went viral on social media showed regime soldiers and fighters of the PKK's affiliate the Democratic Union Party (PYD) entering captured neighborhoods together and waving flags of both the PKK and the regime.

The Manbij Military Council, a local component of the largely YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), announced on Thursday that it had reached a deal with the Syrian regime to create a buffer zone against Turkish-backed forces that hold territories in the west of Manbij.

The Russian military also confirmed on Friday that Russian officials were present while the agreement was sealed by the parties.