Former President of Syria Bashar al-Assad and his family are in Russia and have received political asylum “for humanitarian reasons”, a Kremlin source confirmed to Russian news agency Interfax on Sunday.
Earlier on Sunday, the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed Assad’s departure from Syria, shortly before his plane allegedly fell off of air traffic radars, with no allusion to his next stop.
Just minutes before Russia announced Assad’s alleged departure, a transport plane took off from a Russian airfield in Latakia, Syria.
Early Sunday night, Russian news outlets reported that the immediate former Syrian President and his family would be granted safety in Russia after noting that the nation had not taken part in the talks about his departure.
This statement came as various reports emerged on Sunday regarding the whereabouts of Assad after the fall of his regime earlier in the day, and if he could have possibly been killed in a plane crash.
The Kremlin is yet to confirm the pending status of the Assad family, and their next move is still unclear.
For the first time, a documentary about Assad in Russia is being released on Sunday after the fall of his regime, according to a Walla report.
Syrian opposition guarantees safety of Russian bases and diplomats
Despite this, Syrian opposition leaders have guaranteed the safety of Russian military bases and diplomatic missions inside Syria, Russian news agencies reported on Sunday, citing a Kremlin source.
“Russian officials are in contact with representatives of the armed Syrian opposition, whose leaders have guaranteed the safety of Russian military bases and diplomatic institutions on the territory of Syria.”
Russia deployed military forces to Syria in 2015, supporting the Assad regime against a series of anti-government forces and action. Damascus has also supported the Kremlin throughout their full-scale invasion of Ukraine, beginning in February 2022.
Reuters contributed to this story.
This is a developing story.
This article was originally published at www.jpost.com
