Hours after the fall of Damascus, Russia's Foreign Minister issued a statement claiming that Bashar al-Assad had "negotiated" with the rebels and "decided to step down from the presidency and leave the country." The statement did not specify Assad's destination, leaving his whereabouts uncertain. It also noted that Russia's two military bases in Syria are on high alert. These bases, once allies to the Syrian regime, were the launching points for countless airstrikes on Syrian cities, which killed and injured tens of thousands of Syrian civilians during the civil war.