Russian dictator Vladimir Putin personally granted political asylum to Bashar al-Assad on Sunday after he was overthrown by rebels and forced to flee, Kremlin insiders revealed.
Putin’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Assad had been transferred in the « most secured way » into Russia.
“He is secured, and it shows that Russia acts as required in such an extraordinary situation,” he told NBC News.
When asked whether Moscow would hand Assad over to the International Criminal Court, Ryabkov implied they wouldn’t, defending that Russia « is not the party to the convention » that established it.
Russian government agents are said to have persuaded Assad to flee immediately as rebels continued to gain key cities across Syria. While in a brutal four-word verdict, the Russian despot reportedly telling him: « You’re going to lose. »
Russian intelligence agents organised the dramatic escape, flying Assad out to Moscow via its air base on the Syrian coast, key sources told Bloomberg News.
The overthrown dictator was ordered to tell no-one, with the aircraft’s transport switched off to avoid any kind of tracking. He may also have been transported on a military plane.
While it is understood that Putin personally approved Assad’s rescue, the Russian president apparently has no intention of meeting him now he is in exile.
Putin is also yet to speak publicly about the collapse of the Assad regime.
The Russian dictator was Assad’s key ally during Syria’s brutal civil war, with the Kremlin aiding him in maintaining his family’s dynasty that had exercised control for over half a century.
Putin had gained a huge military presence in Syria with an air base in Latakia and a naval facility in Tartus.
Ryabkob added that he had « no idea » what was happening with Assad « right now », explaining that it would be « very wrong » to « elaborate on what happened and how it was resolved ».
The flight-tracking website Flightradar24 showed a plane believed to be carrying Assad as he fled the Syrian capital Damascus in the early hours of Sunday morning. Rumours into Assad’s whereabouts – with suggestions that it had been shot down.
The Ukrainian Centre for Strategic Communication and Information Security claimed on X that Russia « hid their trail » in assisting al-Assad’s escape by circulating fake claims that he died in a crash.
The Assad family may now be living in one of the 20 Moscow apartments his extended family owns.
Purchased in the prestigious Moscow City district, the apartments are said to be worth more than £30 million in recent years. The majority of the apartments are in the City of Capitals complex – a twin-towered skyscraper that sat once as the tallest in Europe.
It remains unclear whether the family will live here or be forced to stay in a government safehouse.
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