Mr. Assad: "I was evacuated from Syria at Russia's request"

(Dan Tri) - Syrian President Bashar Assad said his evacuation to Russia took place after the army collapsed and state institutions were paralyzed.

Syrian President Bashar Assad (Photo: Reuters).

"My departure from Syria was not pre-planned nor did it take place in the final hours of the war, as some have claimed. On the contrary, I remained in Damascus, carrying out my duties until early Sunday morning, December 8," the office of Syrian President Bashar Assad said on December 16.

According to the statement, President Assad moved to the Russian air base at Hmeimim in Syria on the morning of December 8 and Russia asked him to evacuate when the base came under attack.

“When the rebel forces entered Damascus, I moved to Latakia to coordinate with our Russian allies to monitor the fighting,” Assad said in the statement.

"Upon arrival at Khmeimim airbase that morning, it became clear that our forces had completely withdrawn from all combat lines and the last army positions had fallen," the statement added.

"As the fighting situation in the region continued to deteriorate, the Russian military base itself was heavily attacked by drone strikes. With no feasible way to leave the base, Moscow asked the base command to arrange an immediate evacuation to Russia on Sunday evening, December 8. This came a day after the fall of Damascus, following the collapse of the last military positions and the paralysis of all remaining state institutions," President Assad's statement said.

"At no point during these events did I consider resigning or seeking refuge, nor did any individual or party make such a suggestion. The only course of action was to continue to fight the terrorist attack," the statement stressed.

Mr Assad said his presidency had become "meaningless" after the country was taken over by the opposition.

This is the first official statement by President Assad since the opposition coup in Syria.

In his latest statement, President Assad stressed that he would not abandon the Syrian people and army.

At the end of the statement, Mr. Assad "hopes that Syria will once again be free and independent."

The Assad regime was overthrown just 10 days after the opposition launched a large-scale offensive from its stronghold of Idlib. On December 8, the opposition declared control of the Syrian capital Damascus and the Assad family left the presidential palace.

The event marked the end of more than half a century of Syrian leadership by the Assad family.

Russia later confirmed that Mr Assad had resigned and left the country under an agreement reached with the opposition. The Kremlin said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had granted asylum to Mr Assad's family and they were in Moscow.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-gioi/ong-assad-toi-duoc-so-tan-khoi-syria-theo-yeu-cau-cua-nga-20241216203620194.htm