Former Syrian President Basher al-Assad and his family arrived in Moscow following the Kremlin’s offer of asylum, Tass reported on December 8.
Al-Assad and his family departed by private jet from Damascus and arrived in Abu Dhabi on late December 7, as rebels were closing in on Damascus. It is unclear when he left the capital of the United Arab Emirates to transfer to Moscow.
As bne IntelliNews reported earlier the same day, Assad’s regime was teetering on the edge of collapse after rebel forces took Aleppo last week in a surprise offensive.
Assad has been told to flee the country and establish a government in exile as three important cities fall to advancing forces from all directions led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebels and their supposedly somewhat reformed leader, Ahmed Hussein al-Shar’a.
Rebels had advanced to the outskirts of the key city of Homs as of 7 December, as those loyal to the regime have fled for the coast in anticipation of the city’s fall to HTS forces and the rapidly crumbling resistance by government forces in the last week. At least two more important cities have fallen under the control of HTS in the last few days. Assad sent his wife and three of his children to Moscow last week.
A Russian Telegraph channel is showing video of a crowd allegedly tearing down statues of Assad’s father in Jaramana, 4 km north of Damascus, as the news of his departure spread. Police and local officials have reportedly fled the city.
As the Syrian regime continues to deny Assad has fled Damascus, reports suggest a private jet has been making multiple return flights to the UAE.
Some media outlets reported on Saturday that Assad planned to address the Syrian people later in the evening. It was not immediately clear whether the jet’s departure and the anticipated speech were connected. There was no immediate comment from state-run Syrian media, while Iranian and Emirati officials also remained silent.
The Syrian presidency denied reports that Assad had left Syrian territory, stating on its official Facebook page that he remained in Damascus, carrying out his “national and constitutional duties.” The announcement coincided with claims by opposition fighters that they were tightening their encirclement of the capital.
Egyptian authorities, meanwhile, dismissed speculation that Cairo had urged Assad to leave Syria and form a government in exile. No official explanation was provided as to how such claims began circulating.
In a related development, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov altered his rhetoric towards the Syrian opposition for the first time since 2016, according to a social media post by political commentator Farhan Malik. Speaking in Doha, Lavrov said that moderate opposition fighters needed to be distinguished from terrorists. In a further sign of shifting stances, Iran has also stopped referring to opponents of the Syrian government as “terrorists”. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi referred to “legal occupants” in an interview in Doha.