As many in Syria celebrated the end of the long rule of Bashar al-Assad, rumors swirled about his whereabouts. After a day of intrigue, the mystery was solved when Russian state media announced he had landed in Moscow.

“Assad and his family have arrived in Moscow. Russia, for humanitarian reasons, has granted them asylum,” a Kremlin source said, according to TASS.

Since the uprising began, and the rebels rapidly advanced through the country, Assad had kept a low profile.

After meeting with Iran’s foreign minister last weekend, he pledged to fight “terrorist organizations” but has otherwise made little comment as the rebels captured major cities.

On Saturday, as the rebels encircled Damascus, a source told CNN that Assad was nowhere to be found in the city.

Assad’s Presidential Guard were also no longer deployed at his usual residence, as they would be if he was there, the source said, fueling speculation ahead of Sunday’s developments that he may have escaped.

Syria’s presidential office initially denied that Assad had left Damascus or travelled to another country, saying that some foreign media outlets were “spreading rumors and false news.”

After the rebels took the capital, they said he had fled and were searching for him. Some of the fighters along with civilians began ransacking his official residences.

Amid the rumors, Russia’s foreign ministry issued a statement Sunday saying Assad had “decided to leave the presidential post and left the country, giving instructions to transfer power peacefully.”

The statement added that Russia “did not participate in these negotiations.” Later came the disclosure that Assad had arrived in Moscow.

A source close to the rebels told CNN that the ousted president had left Damascus under Russian protection, and a separate source said he traveled to Latakia in northwest Syria, where Russia has an airbase.

Flight tracking data shows that a plane departed from Damascus airport at just before 2 a.m. local time on Sunday in the direction of the coast before making a sudden U-turn over the city of Homs and disappearing off the map. CNN cannot confirm whether Assad was on this flight.

Russia was the obvious destination – President Vladimir Putin was a longtime ally and supported the Syrian regime with air power and other military aid. Whether Moscow is Assad’s permanent destination, it is an abrupt and ignominious end to more than two decades in power.

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Assad arrives in Moscow, is granted asylum by Russia

Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, who fled the country Saturday as rebels closed in on the capital of Damascus, has arrived in Moscow and has been granted asylum by the Russian government, according to Russian News Agency Tass.

Speculation about where Assad might land has been widespread since the longtime dictator fled the country, with allies such as Iran and Russia being at the top of the list.

Assad was forced to flee the country after a coalition of largely radical Islamist groups led a sweeping offensive across Syria, culminating in the capture of the country's capital city and the fall of Assad's regime, which had seen his family rule Syria for over 50 years.

The offensive was the latest development in a bloody civil war that has ravaged Syria for almost 14 years, a war that also led to the rise of the Islamic State terrorist organization and yearslong interventions by countries such as the United States, Russia, Iran and Turkey.

Assad has been a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had for more than a decade dedicated military resources to the defense of Assad's regime and its government forces.

Assad now arrives in Russia with his family, according to an Interfax news agency report, citing a Kremlin source.

"President Assad of Syria has arrived in Moscow. Russia has granted them (him and his family) asylum on humanitarian grounds," the source told the outlet.

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Syria faces future without al-Assad as Damascus falls to rebels

Syrians were facing a new political reality on Sunday after rebels took the capital Damascus, ending the two-decade regime of president Bashar al-Assad, who has fled the country for an unknown destination.

Residents took to the streets of Damascus singing and dancing. Witnesses said celebratory gunfire could be heard, as more than 50 years of rule by the al-Assad family came to an end.

For many inside and outside of Syria, however, the jubilation was tempered with caution amid concern about what lies ahead. It is unclear who will govern the divided country in the future and whether Syria will ultimately find a path to democracy.

The opposition forces now in control of Damascus announced a curfew in the city from 4 pm (1400 GMT) to 5 am.

Iraq closed its al-Qaim border crossing with Syria and evacuated its embassy.

Iran holds significant political influence in Iraq, and numerous Iranian-aligned militias are active in Iraq.

The embassy of Iran was stormed on Sunday, with the news channel Al Arabiya releasing videos showing people tearing down a large poster from the fence of the site in Damascus.

The poster featured the powerful Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in 2020 in Iraq by a US drone strike, and Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah militia, who was killed in September in an Israeli airstrike near Beirut.

Along with Russia, Iran and the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah militia were the main allies of the al-Assad government. With their support, the Syrian government forces regained important areas during the civil war, enabling al-Assad to remain in power.

After sweeping through major cities like Aleppo, Hama and Homs in just a matter of days, the rebels entered Damascus on Sunday, declared the overthrow of al-Assad's government and proclaimed the capital liberated.

Addressing the millions of refugees displaced by 13 years of war, the Military Operations Command, which represents a group of rebel forces, said: "To the displaced worldwide, a free Syria awaits you,"

The Syrian state army also said that al-Assad's rule had come to an end, with the army command informing government soldiers they were no longer in service, dpa learned from Syrian military sources.

Syrian rebels entered the presidential palace in Damascus early Sunday while chanting "God is most great," witnesses told dpa.

Al-Assad had fled Damascus shortly before the rebels arrived, said the Russian government.

The Syrian civil war flared up again in late November when a rebel alliance led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched a surprise offensive in north-western Syria in early December and then quickly seized territory from pro-Assad forces as they moved south toward Damascus.

The rebels confirmed that they had stormed the notorious Sednaya prison, nicknamed the "Human Slaughterhouse." The prison near Damascus holds many political prisoners who opposed the rule of al-Assad.

Syria has been in the throes of a civil war since 2011, when security forces responded violently to protests against al-Assad's rule.

Around 14 million people have been displaced and 300,000 civilians killed so far, according to UN estimates.

The European Union and the United States classify HTS as a terrorist organization, making it unclear just how much room for diplomatic manoeuvre the West has.

According to HTS leader Abu Mohamed al-Joulani, the rebel alliance intends to take power peacefully. Public facilities in Damascus "will remain under the supervision of the former prime minister until the official handover," he said.

Years ago, the United States put a bounty of $10 million on al-Joulani. But the 42-year-old has been presenting himself as moderate who wants to rebuild Syria.

Rebels advance in the north-east

Simultaneously with their advance on Damascus, the rebel alliance was also pushing forward in the north-east of the country on Sunday.

The insurgents said in an address broadcast on Syrian state television that they had brought areas west of the key city of Deir al-Zour under their control. This area was recently controlled by Syrian government troops and allied militias.

Deir al-Zour is situated on the Euphrates River and on important transport and supply routes between the eastern and central parts of Syria. Near the border with Iraq, the area also contains most of the country's oil fields, as well as a US military base.

Areas of the city are now largely controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which are led by Kurdish militias.

Monitor: Israel unleashes a series of strikes in Syria

Israel mounted a series of airstrikes in Syria on Sunday, including the capital Damascus, a monitoring group reported.

Israeli warplanes targeted military depots in the vicinity of a scientific centre near Damascus and an army outpost in the countryside of the capital, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The Israeli Air Force had earlier attacked a chemical weapons factory in Syria according to media reports. The Jerusalem Post reported that the attack was motivated by concerns that weapons developed during the reign of al-Assad could fall into the hands of rebels.

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