The Kremlin has long denied having troops deployed in Russia, despite recurring evidence thereof. Putin's decision to classify information about military casualties during peacetime "special operations" may be meant to end further questioning.
Russia's War Against Ukraine
Christian Science Monitor: Putin classifies Russian soldiers’ deaths. Is it all about Ukraine?
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R, front), accompanied by Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev (R, back), attends a meeting with the BRICS countries' senior officials in charge of security matters at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 26, 2015.
