Russia's elite special forces contingents are active on the battlefield in Syria, directing Russian warplanes, AFP reports.
"I won't conceal that there are also contingents of our special operations forces in Syria," said Alexander Dvornikov, who serves as commander of Russian troops in Syria and recently received top military honors from President Vladimir Putin.
"They are carrying out additional reconnaissance of targets for Russian airstrikes, they direct aircraft to targets in far-flung areas and solve other special tasks," he said in an interview to Rossiyskaya Gazeta state newspaper.
Moscow has said it has advisors active in Syria but Dvornikov made it clear the special forces officers were a separate group, while advisors trained both the Syrian army and other groups fighting alongside with regime forces, including the Syrian Kurds.
"Our military advisors worked and are working on all levels, including tactical," he said.
Within a short time of launching the campaign on September 30, Russia "created a system of military advisors", he said. "They successfully solved the issue concerning training of government forces, Kurds and other patriotic groups," said Dvornikov.
Russia also delivered a whole array of equipment to the Syrian army, including "artillery systems, communication and surveillance equipment", he said.