Ousted Syrian president Assad speaks out from Moscow after regime's collapse
From the Russian capital Moscow, Assad rejected rumors of his escape in the early morning of Dec. 8 and argued he stayed in Damascus until the final moments of the city's fall.
Dec. 16, 2024
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - In a dramatic turn of events, Bashar al-Assad, the ousted Syrian president, has appeared in Moscow to talk about the fall of Damascus and his government's defeat, breaking his silence after his regime's downfall on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024.
From the Russian capital Moscow, Assad rejected rumors of his escape in the early morning of Dec. 8 and argued he stayed in Damascus until the final moments of the city's fall.
In a detailed statement, he tried to explain that he was present until the early morning hours of Dec. 8, observing what he called “the mounting terrorist influence” in Damascus before “coordinating with his Russian allies to move to Latakia to monitor war fronts.”
Upon his arrival at the Hmeimim military base on Sunday morning, Assad disclosed that Syrian forces had already suffered widespread defeats in all battlefronts.
Moreover, he wrote that, “with drone attacks aiming the Russian base, Moscow commanded the base leadership to vacate instantly that same evening and return to Russia.”
In a retrospect, in his statement the ousted Syrian president claimed that he never “sought personal political positions, but rather considered himself a bearer of a national project supported by a people”, who he said “believed in his vision.”
He spoke with confidence that the Syrian people have the ability to “defend their state and institutions until the last moment.”
The former president branded the fall of the state to "terrorism" as making his political position meaningless.
"With the loss of state competences and the incapability to deliver anything, this position becomes hollow and null," Assad stated.
