The fast-moving rebel insurgency, which began last week, reignited a civil war that had been stagnated for a few years but whose roots date back to 2011, when a popular uprising against Assad first broke out following his brutal suppression of dissent.
On Sunday, it was reported that Assad had resigned from his post as Syrian president and left the country after negotiating with the rebels, who took over Damascus, the capital, almost unopposed, facing scant resistance from the regime forces.
However,
the whereabouts of Assad and his family were unknown until Russia’s private Interfax news agency, citing an unnamed Kremlin source, reported on Sunday evening that the now-former Syrian president, his wife, and two children have been granted asylum in Russia.
“President Assad of Syria has arrived in Moscow. Russia has granted them (him and his family) asylum on humanitarian grounds,” the source said, quoted by Interfax.
The source also told Interfax that Syrian opposition leaders had agreed to guarantee the safety of Russian military bases and diplomatic institutions in the country.
Earlier On Saturday, the British newspaper the Telegraph reported that the Syrian leader’s family had fled to Russia.
The family that ruled for decades
Moscow had been a strong ally of Assad, continuing a relationship that also existed during the rule of Hafez al-Assad, the deposed leader’s father, who governed the Middle Eastern country from 1970 until his death in 2000.
When the civil war first broke out 13 years ago, it was Russia, along with Iran, that helped Assad crush the rebellion.
Over the last few years, the Assad-led regime had controlled most of the country, although rebel groups remained strong in many areas, especially in the north.
However, when the rebels, spearheaded by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), launched their latest assault, neither Tehran nor Moscow could come to the Syrian leader’s aid, as both countries were preoccupied with their own conflicts.
Russia has a significant presence in Syria, including an airbase and a naval base, but since 2022 its military has been tied up by its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Earlier, sources close to the Kremlin reportedly told the Telegraph that Russia was unwilling to step in to rescue Assad’s 24-year rule.
Meanwhile Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy through which it has sought to increase its regional clout, is engaged in a conflict with Israel in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.
The organization has also suffered significant losses recently after Israel eliminated most of its high-ranking commanders, including
Hasan Nasrallah, who led the Lebanese militant group for 32 years.
Hadi Al-Bahra, the head of Syria’s main opposition abroad, has said that the country should have an 18 month transition period to establish “a safe, neutral, and quiet environment” for free elections.
