After negotiations with the new Syrian leadership, Russia withdrew at least 400 soldiers from the Damascus region. A representative of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham said that negotiations are underway to evacuate more soldiers across Syria.

The rebels capturing Damascus marked a turning point for Syria, which had been shattered by more than 13 years of war which turned cities to rubble, killed hundreds of thousands of people and forced millions to flee abroad as refugees.

Russia has evacuated some staff from its diplomatic missions in Damascus, as well as personnel from the embassies of Belarus, North Korea, and Abkhazia, according to the Foreign Ministry’s Crisis Management Center.

A Syrian family that survived a 2013 chemical weapons attack that killed hundreds of people near the country’s capital, Damascus, says the ordeal they experienced haunts them to this day. The Aug. 21,

Russia is moving a large amount of military equipment in Syria, signalling preparations for a partial withdrawal, analysts say. Satellite images reveal a build-up of military vehicles at a Russian-controlled port and airbase in western Syria. Transport aircraft also appear to have arrived and departed the country in recent days.

Ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad says he had no plans to leave the country after the fall of Damascus a week ago but the Russian military evacuated him after their base in western Syria came under attack.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Russia’s intelligence agency on Saturday accused the United States and the United Kingdom of plotting to use Islamic State (ISIS) militants to carry out “terrorist attacks” on its military facilities in Syria,

The rapid downfall of Syrian leader Bashar Assad has touched off a new round of delicate geopolitical maneuvering between Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Assad, in his first statement since his regime fell in Syria last week, has denied a "planned" departure from his country, news agency AFP reported.

In his first public comments since fleeing Syria and being evacuated to Russia, former leader Bashar al-Assad says his departure was unplanned.

Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad released on Monday his first public statement since leaving Damascus on Dec. 8, detailing the chaotic moments leading up to his departure for Russia. The statement,

Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Monday it was up to Syrians to determine their own future and called for an "inclusive" government taking account of the country's diverse ethnic and religious interests.