Overthrown Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and his family have arrived in Moscow after being granted asylum in Russia, Russian state media TASS reported on Sunday.
“Assad and his family have arrived in Moscow. Russia, for humanitarian reasons, has granted them asylum,” said a Kremlin source quoted in the report.
Assad's regime issued a statement saying it had "ordered the non-violent transfer of power."
Ukrainian intelligence claimed that Assad's escape operation from Syria to Russia was meticulously planned and included a deception maneuver, during which the Syrian President's plane disappeared from radar, sparking speculation that it had crashed.
The Prime Minister in Assad's regime, Mohammad Al-Jalali, stated that the last time he spoke with Assad was on Saturday, and that he has no idea through which airport Assad left Syria.
According to estimates, Assad departed Damascus for one of the Russian bases in the region, from where he flew to Russia.