Al-Assad Granted Asylum in Russia, HTS Militants Control Damascus  

By Staff, Agencies

Former Syrian President Bashar Assad has been granted asylum in Russia and has arrived in Moscow with his family, senior Russian diplomat Mikhail Ulyanov said early Monday morning, seemingly confirming previous media reports that the former Syrian president has been granted asylum. The government in Damascus fell to militants on Sunday.

Ulyanov, who leads Moscow’s delegation to international organizations headquartered in Vienna, said the presence of Al-Assads in Moscow shows that “Russia does not betray its friends in difficult situations… unlike the US.”

The development comes as Syrian militants seized control of Damascus, effectively ending Assad’s 24-year rule.

The swift capture of the Syrian capital marks the culmination of a large-scale offensive launched by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham [HTS].

The group initiated a surprise offensive from the opposition-held province of Idlib in northern Syria last week. The militants previously drove the Syrian Army out of the cities of Aleppo, Hama, Homs, and Al-Qusayr at the Lebanese border before advancing into Damascus.

“Assad, along with members of his family, has arrived in Moscow. Russia granted them asylum on humanitarian grounds,” a source told TASS.

Moscow has called for the resumption of UN-led negotiations to resolve the Syrian crisis, TASS reported. Leaders of the Syrian armed opposition have assured the safety of Russian military bases and diplomatic missions operating in Syria, according to Kremlin officials, as cited by RIA.

Earlier on Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov confirmed on Sunday that “Moscow did not participate in talks on the transfer of power” in Syria.

Lavrov expressed Russia’s concern about developments in Syria, stressing that “Russian military bases in Syria are in a mode of increased combat readiness”

He pointed out that “[Former President Bashar] al-Assad left the presidential post and Syria after negotiations with Syrian conflict participants, giving instructions to transfer power peacefully,” calling on all parties to refrain from violence and resolve problems politically.