In a statement posted on the Telegram channel of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on December 16, the former Syrian leader said he left the capital Damascus on the morning of December 8 when opposition troops approached. After that, he was evacuated from Russia’s Hmeimim military base in Latakia province (Syria) to Russia without any prior preparation.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation conference in Saudi Arabia in November 2023
“My departure from Syria was not planned nor did it take place in the final hours of the battles as some sides claim. I stayed in Damascus, performing my duty until the early hours of December 8. When terrorist forces invaded Damascus, I moved to Latakia in coordination with my Russian ally to supervise combat operations,” the statement said.
After Mr. al-Assad arrived at Hmeimim air base in Latakia, the situation became clearer when Syrian government forces completely withdrew from all front lines and the last fighting positions collapsed.
“As the situation on the ground in the region continued to deteriorate, the Russian military base was fiercely attacked by drones. Since there was no other viable option to leave the base, Moscow proposed to ban base commander arranged an immediate evacuation to Russia,” according to the statement.
The former leader said the evacuation took place a day after the loss of Damascus, following the collapse of the last military positions and paralyzing the entire state organization.
Russian military helicopter Ka-50 flies over Hmeimim base in Latakia (Syria) on December 14
According to the above statement, Mr. al-Assad affirmed that he had never considered resigning or asking for asylum, and no party had made such a proposal. “The only action then is to continue fighting against the terrorist attack,” Mr. al-Assad said.
Also in the announcement, Mr. al-Assad said that all new positions are meaningless when the state falls into the hands of “terrorism”.
It is unclear whether Mr. al-Assad controls the Telegram account that posted the above statement. If authenticated, it would be his first statement since being overthrown.
The opposition coalition led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) organization began attacking northern Syria at the end of November. On December 8, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had resigned. and left the country after ordering a peaceful transfer of power.
On December 9, Russian state media confirmed that Mr. al-Assad and his family had arrived in Russia and were granted asylum. In an interview with NBC News broadcast on December 10, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the country had organized a flight to take Mr. al-Assad safely out of Syria.
