Former Syrian President Bashar Assad has been granted asylum in Russia and has arrived in Moscow with his family, RIA Novosti and TASS reported on Sunday, citing Kremlin sources. The development comes as Syrian militants seized control of Damascus, effectively ending Assad’s 24-year rule.
The swift capture of the Syrian capital marks the culmination of a large-scale offensive launched by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Led by a former Al-Qaeda commander and previously known as Jabhat al-Nusra, the group initiated a surprise offensive from the opposition-held province of Idlib in northern Syria last week. The jihadists previously drove the Syrian Army out of the cities of Aleppo, Hama, Homs, and Al-Qusayr at the Lebanese border before advancing into Damascus.
“Assad, along with members of his family, has arrived in Moscow. Russia granted them asylum on humanitarian grounds,” a source told TASS.
Moscow has called for the resumption of UN-led negotiations to resolve the Syrian crisis, TASS reported. Leaders of the Syrian armed opposition have assured the safety of Russian military bases and diplomatic missions operating in Syria, according to Kremlin officials, as cited by RIA.