In his story published on social media Baszar al-Assad reported that the capital Syria, Damascusleft on December 8 in the morning and went to the coastal Russian military base in Latakia, from where he planned to continue the fight for power.
“When terrorist forces infiltrated Damascus, in consultation with our Russian allies, I moved to Latakia to oversee combat operations,” he said.
Bashar al-Assad's first statement. The dictator is in Russia
As we learn from the statement, the former president's plans were thwarted only by an airstrike on the base, which came under “intensified drone attack.”
“With no real opportunity to leave the base, Moscow asked the command to organize an immediate evacuation to Russia“- we read in the statement.
At the same time, the dictator assured that “he had no plans to leave the country“contrary to what was previously said.”
The end of Assad's rule in Syria. Vladimir Putin granted asylum
al-Assad's statement on Monday is his first public statement since he was overthrown by an Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sam (HTS), which is currently in power in Syria.
The dictator's escape from Syria marked the final end of his family's rule, which had lasted five decades. He alone ruled the country for 24 years.
December 9 The Kremlin announced that the president Vladimir Putin decided to grant asylum al-Assad in Russia, which sent its air force to Syria in 2015 to help push him back against rebel forces.
The Financial Times reported on Monday that in 2018-2019 al-Assad sent to Moscow two tons of banknotes of 500 euros and 100 dollarswith a total estimated value of USD 250 million, which coincided with, among others, with the purchase of luxury real estate in Moscow by the Assad family.
Last week, Reuters reported that the Syrian leader had almost been deposed he did not fully confide in anyone about his plans to go to Russia. Instead, advisers, officials and even relatives were deceived or kept in the dark.