Russia begins withdrawing forces from Syria

Russia began withdrawing its forces from Syria on Tuesday in a move that will leave behind both significant destruction and a Syrian regime to fend for itself to a much greater extent.The first group of Russian planes left Hmeymim air base in Syria on Tuesday morning, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Russia's surprise announcement Monday that it would withdraw from the conflict came as suddenly as its devastating airstrike campaign that started in September.

But Syria's government was not caught unawares by the move, a senior official told reporters.
"We knew beforehand that this is what was going to be announced because the Russians came here to achieve certain jobs, and we and they agreed that most of the jobs have been achieved."