Bashar Assad, who ruled Syria with an iron fist for almost a quarter of a century, fled the country after opposition forces stormed the Syrian capital on Sunday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry has said.
Hours later, Russia’ TASS state news service said Assad and members of his family were in Moscow and had been granted asylum on “humanitarian grounds.”
After talks with rebels who took over Damascus on Sunday, facing scant resistance from government forces, Assad “decided to resign from the presidency and left the country, instructing a peaceful transfer of power,” the ministry said in a post on Telegram.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, writing on X, said Assad’s fall is a reminder that Russia and its allies can be defeated.
“The events in Syria have made the world realize once again, or at least they should, that even the most cruel regime may fall and that Russia and its allies can be defeated,” he wrote.
Russia has requested a meeting of the U.N. Security Council to discuss the events in Syria, TASS reported.
Moscow is asking “all parties involved to renounce the use of violence and to resolve all issues of governance by political means,” the Foreign Ministry