Putin personally granted asylum to Syria’s Assad, Kremlin confirms
The Syrian dictator fled to Moscow with his family after opposition forces took control of the capital.
Russian President Vladimir Putin personally decided to grant asylum to Syrian dictator Bashar Assad and his family, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday.
“Such decisions certainly cannot be made without the head of state. It was his decision,” Peskov said, while declining to officially comment on Assad’s whereabouts. Peskov said he had nothing further to add.
Assad fled to Moscow as Syrian opposition forces took control of the capital, Russian state media reported Sunday, adding that he was granted asylum by Russia on humanitarian grounds.
Assad’s Iran- and Russia-allied regime, which has ruled Syria with an iron grip for almost 25 years, brutally curtailed human rights, deploying chemical weapons against civilians within the civil war that has raged in the country since 2011.
Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s ambassador to international organizations in Vienna, confirmed the news in a post on X.
“Breaking news! Bashar al-Assad and his family in Moscow. Russia does not betray friends in difficult situations,” Ulyanov said.
European leaders welcomed the collapse of the regime that stands accused of presiding over the indiscriminate destruction of civilian areas, the arbitrary detention of innocent people and widespread use of torture inside the regime’s notorious prisons.
What's Your Reaction?
