'Mission accomplished': Putin orders Russian troops to withdraw from Syria

President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered some Russian troops to begin withdrawing from Syria, saying Moscow's goals had been achieved after turning the tide of the war in its ally's favor.

"The objectives given to the Defense Ministry and the Armed Forces as a whole have largely been accomplished, so I ordered the defense minister from tomorrow to begin withdrawing the main part of our military forces from the Syrian Arab Republic," Putin said at a meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, according to a Kremlin statement.

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Russia's military forces at its naval base in Tartus and at its airbase in Hmeymime will continue to operate as usual, Putin added.

The president did not give a date for the completion of the surprise withdrawal.

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Putin spoke with Syria's President Bashar al-Assad ahead of the announcement on Monday evening local time, according to a separate Kremlin statement.

It said the two leaders agreed that the actions of Russia's Air Force in Syria have allowed them to "radically reverse the situation" in fighting terrorists in the region, having "disorganized militants' infrastructure and inflicted fundamental damage upon them."

Assad praised "the professionalism, courage and heroism of soldiers and officers of the Russian Armed Forces who took part in the fighting, and expressed deep gratitude to Russia for its huge help in the fight against terrorism and delivering humanitarian assistance to civilians," the Kremlin's statement continued.

Russia launched its airstrike campaign in Syria on Sept. 30. Since then, Shoigu said his military forces has conducted "more than 9,000 sorties" and "destroyed more than two thousand criminals, immigrants from Russia, including 17 warlords."

Russia has repeatedly insisted that its airstrikes were aimed at the Islamic State (ISIS) group and other "terrorists." 

But most of its airstrikes were carried out in places where ISIS does not have a strong presence. 

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Instead, it bombed moderate rebel groups, some of which are backed by the U.S., that oppose Assad, showing the real reason for its military action in Syria was to shore up its ally and protect its own interests in the Middle East. 

Over the course of its five-month campaign of airstrikes in Syria, Russia was accused by Amnesty International, as well as other global humanitarian organizations, of bombing civilians, a war crime.

Some have accused Moscow of "weaponizing" Syrian refugees, tens of thousands of which fled Russian bombs during that time, and using them as a geopolitical tool to undermine the EU. 

Putin's order comes as the war in Syria enters its sixth year. It has cost the lives of an estimated 470,000 people and displaced millions more, spawning a humanitarian catastrophe.

The United Nations since last week has tried to revive peace negotiations meant to bring the war to an end. Hostilities in Syria have declined since a ceasefire brokered by Russia and the United States came into effect on Feb. 27, but they have not ceased completely.

Putin instructed Lavrov to step up diplomatic efforts to end the war.

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