Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s ousted president, is now in Moscow, Russia reports are saying. al-Assad who pulled Syria for 24 years touched down in Russia ‘s capital on Sunday, according to Russian state news.
The dictator whose government fell under the weight of the armed Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Sunday inherited power from.his father who ruled the country for 30 years.
Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister said after Damascus was captured that Assad was “stunned by the state of his own army” when Iranian advisers warned him of the problems in recent days.
Syrian opposition fighters, yesterday declared that the country has been “liberated” after they stormed the capital and announced that President Assad had fled the capital city to an unknown destination.
Jubilation erupted in many parts of the country, including along the border with neighbouring Lebanon, with many displaced Syrians deciding to return home.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said late Sunday that the United States has taken notice of efforts by rebel leaders to moderate their rhetoric and downplay their hard-line Islamist roots, adding that “we will assess not just their words, but their actions.”
Russia’s granting Assad and his family asylum comes as no surprise as as the ousted President has been kept in power by Russian fire power for the most part of the year. Since 2015, Russia had sent thousands of troops to shore up President Assad’s hold on the country.
Assad’s fall is a blow to Russia’s prestige, as it thwarts one of Russia’s key objectives to assert itself as a global power.
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