Russian president, Vladimir Putin, withdrew his troops from Syria on Monday. Putin showed up in Syria unannounced to proclaim Russia’s significant part from their militaristic presence in the Syrian Civil War. Putin made the same disclosure earlier in the year, however military operations continued. The Russian president was met by President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. Less than a week ago Vladimir Putin stated that he will run for re-election and declared victory over Syria, providing a positive influence on the Russian voters, reported Steve Rosenberg of BBC News.

President Putin said, that if “terrorists raise their heads again, Russia would carry out such strikes on them which they have never seen.” Adding, “We will never forget the victims and losses suffered in the fight against terror both here in Syria and also in Russia.” He told President Assad that Russia wanted to work with Iran, the government’s other key ally, and Turkey, who supports the opposition, to help bring peace to Syria.

The Syrian and Russian air forces carried out daily air strikes on the rebel-occupied east section of the city Aleppo, before it fell in December 2016, killing hundreds of people and destroying hospitals, schools, and markets, according to UN human rights investigators, and BBC News. Russia has consistently denied that its air strikes have caused any civilian deaths. However, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Sunday that Russian air strikes had killed 6,328 civilians, including 1,537 children. BBC News shares, “The UK-based monitoring group has documented the deaths of 346,612 people in total since the start of the uprising against Mr Assad in 2011.”