MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to Putin, the operation to retake the city and to evacuate people from it was completed with the "direct, if not decisive, participation and influence of our military personnel."
"The liberation of Aleppo from the radical element is the most important component of a full normalization in Syria, and I hope in the region as a whole," Putin said at a meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.