Assad arrives in Moscow, Russia grants him asylum

Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, who fled the country on Saturday as the rebels closed in capital of Damascushas arrived in Moscow and has been granted asylum by the Russian government, according to Russian news agency TASS.

Speculation about where Assad might land has been rife since the longtime dictator fled the country, with allies including Iran. and Russia be at the top of the list.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad visit the Hmeymim Air Base in Syria’s Latakia province on December 11, 2017. (RUSSIA-VOLS/ Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/ via REUTERS/File photo)

Assad was forced to flee the country after a coalition of largely radical Islamist groups led a broad offensive in Syria, culminating in the capture of the country’s capital and the fall of the Assad regime, which had seen his family ruled Syria for more than 50 years.

The offensive was the latest development in a bloody civil war that has ravaged Syria for nearly 14 years, a war that also saw the rise of the Islamic State terrorist group and year-long interventions by countries including the United States , Russia, Iran and Turkey.

Rebels in northwest Syria seized military vehicles belonging to the regime along the route to Kweris airport in eastern Aleppo on December 2, 2024. (Rami Alsayed/NurPhoto via APRami Alsayed/NurPhoto via AP)

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Assad has been a long-time ally Russian President Vladimir Putinwhich for more than a decade had devoted military resources to the defense of the Assad regime and its government forces.

Assad is now arriving in Russia with his family, according to a report by the Interfax news agency, citing a Kremlin source.

Fighters enter the Rashidin district on the outskirts of Aleppo on their motorbikes with smoke in the background during fighting on November 29, 2024, as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) jihadists and allied factions continue the its offensive in Aleppo province against government forces. . (Photo by BAKR ALKASEM/AFP via Getty Images)

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“President Assad of Syria has arrived in Moscow. Russia has granted (him and his family) asylum on humanitarian grounds,” the source told the outlet.