JUST-IN: Fleeing Assad, Family Arrive Russia, Get Asylum

Deposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his family have arrived in Moscow, Russian state media agencies reported, citing sources within the Kremlin.

Reports also said that Assad and his family have been granted asylum by Russia. However, the report has not been independently verified.

LEADERSHIP reports that Assad was toppled earlier on Sunday following the capture of Damascus by rebels.

For the past four years, it had felt like the civil war was effectively over.

Assad’s government had regained control over most of Syria’s cities with the help of Russia, Iran and Iranian-backed militias like Hezbollah, and the frontlines were largely frozen.

However, large parts of the country were still out of the government’s control.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and its allies said on November 27 that they had launched an offensive to “deter aggression”, accusing the government and allied Iran-backed militias of escalating attacks on civilians.

But it came at a time when the government had been weakened by years of war, sanctions and corruption – with allies Russia and Iran preoccupied and apparently sapped by other conflicts.

The Iran-backed group Hezbollah had recently suffered from Israel’s offensive in Lebanon. Israeli strikes had eliminated Iranian military commanders in Syria, and Russia was distracted by the war in Ukraine.

Without the support of the allies, Assad’s forces were left exposed.