Russian intelligence agents persuaded Bashar al-Assad to flee Syria with Moscow having become convinced that he would lose against the insurgents rapidly advancing on Damascus, sources have said.
Moscow offered Mr Assad a safe exit if he left the country immediately as the rebel forces led by former al-Qaeda offshoot Hayat Tahir al-Sham (HTS) approached, leading to the toppling of 50 years of rule by the Assad family.
According to a report by Bloomberg, citing three people with knowledge of the situation, Russian agents flew Mr Assad out via a Russian airbase in Syria, with the aircraft’s transponder turned off to avoid being tracked.
The new details follow confirmation by Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, that the Syrian dictator had been whisked out of the country “in the most secure way possible”.
“He is secured, and it shows that Russia acts as required in such an extraordinary situation,” he said during an interview with US television network NBC.
On Wednesday, German defence minister Boris Pistorius said developments in Syria demonstrate that countries with a strategic partnership with Russia can rely on Moscow only as long as they are of use to Russian president Vladimir Putin.
During a short visit to Jordan, Mr Pistorius made a stop-over at the Al-Azraq air base on his way to Baghdad where he will discuss ways to help stabilise the region in light of the fall of the Assad regime.
Also on Wednesday, the Kremlin said ensuring the security of Russia’s military bases and diplomatic missions in Syria was of paramount importance.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said conventions of international law protected Russian facilities and assets in Syria.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was maintaining contacts with those in charge in Syria and that it was hopeful that stability would be achieved.
Russia, whose airforce carried out strikes against the advancing Syrian rebels, has a key air base in the Latakia province and a naval facility in the port city of Tartus.
Asked how much the fall of the Assad regime had weakened Russia’s influence in the Middle East, Mr Peskov said that Moscow maintained contacts with all countries in the region and would continue to do so.
“Russia helped the Syrian Arab Republic at one time to cope with the terrorists and to stabilise the situation after this situation threatened the entire region, and spent a lot of effort for this,” he said.
“Russia fulfilled its mission, and then the Assad leadership worked in their country, engaged in the development of their country. But unfortunately, the development has led to the situation that is now. And now we need to proceed from the realities that exist on the ground.”
Moscow’s priority, Mr Peskov said, was the war in Ukraine.
The comments from the Kremlin come after another of Mr Assad’s backers, Iran, wildly claimed that the HTS-led insurrection was being orchestrated by the US and Israeli governments.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also said Iranian intelligence had warned the Syrian government about threats to its stability over the last three months.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported the ayatollah’s comments on Wednesday, adding that Damascus had “neglected the enemy” ahead of Mr Assad fleeing the country.
