President Vladimir Putin says Russia has not been defeated in Syria after rebel groups ousted his ally and longtime leader, Bashar al-Assad, earlier this month. In his first public comments on the subject on Thursday,

Vladimir Putin has been dealt a significant geopolitical blow with the downfall of Bashar al-Assad, whose regime in Syria the Russian president had committed considerable funding and military resources to propping up.

Syrians are now roaming through Assad’s abandoned presidential palace in Damascus, much as Ukrainians were able to visit the grounds of Mezhyhirya, the garish estate once occupied by Yanukovych. Mezhyhirya was refashioned as a museum of corruption.

Russian President Vladimir Putin does not see the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad as a defeat for his country's military, which has been stationed there since 2015. "They want to pass off the events in Syria as a defeat for Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that the fall of ex-Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad was not a "defeat" for Russia, claiming Moscow had achieved its goals in the country.

With the Assads potentially headed to a luxe haven for exiles in Moscow, Vladimir Putin is left scrambling to save his two bases in Syria and maintain his foothold in the region.

Vladimir Putin has lost his key anchor of influence in the Middle East with the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, but he seemingly knew it was coming and was chatting with new players in the region ahead of his downfall.

In his first comments on Assad’s downfall, Putin said that he hadn’t yet met the former Syrian ruler, whom he has given asylum in Moscow, but plans to.