Russia Confirms Assad's Departure As Rebels Seize Damascus
Russia’s Foreign Ministry has announced that Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad has “stepped down” and left the country, following rebel forces taking control of the capital, Damascus, reported BBC.
Assad has not been seen since meeting with the Iranian foreign minister in Damascus a week ago, where he vowed to “crush” the rebels.
Early on Sunday, the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) declared that Assad had fled after entering Damascus without resistance.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that a plane believed to carry Assad left Syria via Damascus International Airport.
A Cham Wings Airlines flight departed for Sharjah, UAE, around midnight, but it remains unclear if Assad was aboard.
According to Reuters, two senior Syrian army officers confirmed Assad boarded a Syrian Air plane early Sunday.
The flight, a cargo plane, left Damascus at 03:59 local time, initially heading east before changing course toward the Mediterranean coast, home to Assad’s Alawite sect and Russian military bases.
The plane’s transponder signal was lost around 04:39 (02:39 GMT) near Homs, with no reports of a crash. Flightradar24 reported possible signal issues due to GPS jamming and the aircraft’s older equipment.
While the plane flew over areas controlled by Assad’s supporters, its final destination remains unknown.
Bashar al-Assad took office on July 17, 2000, succeeding his father, Hafez al-Assad. His presidency was marked by the Syrian civil war, in which hundreds of thousands of people were killed and millions displaced.
His departure brought an end to more than 53 years of his family’s authoritarian rule over Syria.
A-Assad, originally an eye doctor studying in London, became president after the death of his older brother, Basil. To assume the presidency, the Syrian parliament lowered the minimum age requirement from 40 to 34.
He won his first referendum with over 97% of the vote as the only candidate, initially raising hopes for reform, but his rule closely mirrored his father’s authoritarian governance.
In March 2011, Assad faced massive protests demanding democracy, civil liberties, and political freedoms. He dismissed the protests as a foreign conspiracy, labeling his opponents as “terrorists.”
Assad’s response to the protests escalated into a brutal crackdown, which only intensified the unrest and led to armed rebellion.
The conflict drew in regional and international powers, with Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah backing Assad’s government, which allowed him to regain much of the territory lost in the early years of the civil war.
Despite regaining territory, Assad ruled over a fractured Syria, with limited support, particularly from his Alawite sect.
A ceasefire was declared in March 2020 between Russia and Turkey, but the conflict continued with frequent bombardments and a lack of democratic progress.
Assad framed himself as the protector of Syria’s minorities and a bulwark against extremism, but international elections monitoring and widespread accusations of human rights violations—including chemical weapons use—tarnished his reputation.
He won re-election in 2021 with 95.1% of the vote, but many international bodies, including human rights groups, condemned the elections as neither free nor fair.
Assad’s government faced accusations of killing thousands, imprisoning civilians, and using chemical weapons during the war, which he denied.
In 2023, the OPCW reported “reasonable grounds” to believe Assad’s government used chemical weapons in a 2018 attack.
France issued an arrest warrant for Assad over complicity in crimes against humanity related to chemical attacks in 2013.
The International Court of Justice called for the end of torture and inhumane treatment in Syria in 2023. After over 12 years of war, Assad was reinstated to the Arab League in 2023.
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