Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was forced to flee the country on Sunday after rebels seized the capital Damascus, ending his 24-year rule. As news broke of rebels entering Damascus, speculation ran rampant about the whereabouts of the 59-year-old leader, who has sought help from allies such as Russia, Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah to maintain his power for years.
Initially, there were reports that he had boarded a plane to an undisclosed destination in Damascus early Sunday. News agency Reuters reported that the Syrian plane took off from Damascus airport at around the same time as news of the capital’s capture by rebels.
The plane initially flew towards Syria’s coastal region, a stronghold of Assad’s Alawite sect and home to two major Russian military bases, but then suddenly made a U-turn and headed in the opposite direction for a few minutes before disappearing from the map. Flew in the direction.
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Citing two Syrian sources, Reuters said the plane’s sudden change in course and disappearance from tracking could indicate it was shot down, or that it had turned off its transponder. It was not clear who was on board the plane.
However, after more than 12 hours of speculation, it was reported that Assad was in Moscow with his family and that Russia had granted him asylum on humanitarian grounds.
“Breaking news! Bashar al-Assad and his family in Moscow. Russia does not betray friends in difficult situations,” Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s ambassador to international organizations in Vienna, said on his Telegram messaging channel.
Last week, Assad’s allies Iran and Russia also asked their citizens to leave Syria, citing the deteriorating security situation.
Bashar al-Assad’s government fell 11 days after the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group challenged his family’s more than five decades of rule with a lightning strike.
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Rebels began their campaign on November 27, the same day as a ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah members in neighboring Lebanon, and soon captured the key cities of Aleppo and Hama. After this, they captured Damascus on Sunday to end the Assad regime.