On Monday, December 16, Syrian President Assad released a statement claiming that he had evacuated from the Hmeimim base to Russia on December 8, when the base was attacked by drones, making this his first public statement since being overthrown from power. Assad stated that on that morning, rebel fighters approached, causing him to leave Damascus.
The written statement was posted on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s Telegram channel on December 16, Moscow time. Currently, he has been granted asylum in Russia.
Earlier in December, rebel forces led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham swiftly swept through Syria, ending the Baath Party’s iron-fisted rule of over fifty years and ousting Assad from power.
Assad detailed the circumstances under which he left Syria in his statement, stating that “leaving Syria was not planned.”
“During this period of insurgency, I never considered stepping down or seeking asylum, nor has anyone suggested such. The only course of action was to continue to combat terrorist attacks,” he said, explaining that he remained in the capital Damascus until early Sunday, December 8, still fulfilling his duties.
“As terrorist forces infiltrated Damascus, I coordinated with our Russian allies to head to Latakia to oversee military operations.” However, upon arriving at the Russian Hmeimim airbase that morning, he said, “It became apparent that our forces had fully retreated from all fronts, and the final military stronghold had been overrun.”
“This occurred on the second day after Damascus fell. With the collapse of the final military stronghold, all state institutions also collapsed,” the statement said, noting that the Russian military base “came under intense drone attacks.” Given the lack of viable means to leave the base, Moscow requested the base command to immediately arrange evacuation to Russia.
The Kremlin announced on December 9 that President Putin had decided to grant asylum to Assad. Russia deployed its air force to Syria in 2015 to assist him against the rebel forces.
Reuters reported last week that Assad had hardly disclosed his plans to flee Syria to anyone. Over a dozen informed sources told Reuters that aides, officials, and even relatives were deceived or kept in the dark about it.
(This article references reports by Reuters and ABC)