FILE PHOTO: Russia's President Vladimir Putin speaks during a news conference after a meeting with his French counterpart Francois Hollande at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, November 26, 2015. REUTERS/Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool/File Photo
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian military veterans urged the government on Thursday to acknowledge it sends private military contractors to fight in Syria, in a bid to secure financial and medical benefits for the fighters and their families.
The statement breaks years of public silence about a secret operation involving thousands of Russian civilians fighting in Syria on the side of President Bashar al-Assad whom Moscow has been helping militarily since September 2015.
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