Russia says Bashar al-Assad has 'stepped down and left Syria'

According to Russia, Bashar al-Assad has resigned as president and departed from Syria, just hours after rebel groups seized control of the capital, Damascus.

The Russian foreign ministry did not provide additional information regarding Assad's location, but this marked the first official announcement indicating that he had left the country.

Assad hasn't been seen in public since his meeting with the Iranian foreign minister in Damascus a week ago. During that meeting, he promised to "defeat" the rebels who have been rapidly taking control of land.

Early on Sunday, following the unopposed arrival of their fighters in the city, the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its allies announced that "the oppressive Bashar al-Assad has run away."

The director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a monitoring organization based in the UK, stated that a plane thought to be transporting Assad "departed Syria from Damascus international airport just before the military security personnel exited the facility." Rami Abdul Rahman mentioned that he received details indicating the flight was scheduled to leave at 10:00 PM local time (8:00 PM GMT) on Saturday.

The Flightradar24 website didn't show any departures around that time. However, a Cham Wings Airlines Airbus A320 took off at approximately 00:56 on Sunday, heading to Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The flight arrived in Sharjah as scheduled. However, a diplomatic advisor to the president of the UAE informed reporters in Bahrain that he was unsure whether Assad was present in the UAE.

The Reuters news agency reported, citing two high-ranking Syrian army officials who wished to remain anonymous, that Assad boarded a Syrian Air flight at Damascus airport early on Sunday.

It reported that a Syrian Air Ilyushin Il-76T cargo aircraft departed from the airport at 03:59 local time (01:59 GMT) heading to an unknown location.

Data from Flightradar24 shows that the aircraft first flew eastward away from the capital. It then changed direction to the northwest and made its way toward the Mediterranean coast, an area that is predominantly associated with Assad's Alawite sect and is also where Russian naval and air bases are located.

After passing over the heart of Homs, which was captured by rebels on Saturday night, the aircraft, cruising at 20,000 feet (6,095 meters), turned around and headed east again, descending as it went.

The aircraft's transponder signal disappeared at approximately 04:39 local time (02:39 GMT) when it was flying roughly 13 kilometers (8 miles) west of Homs at an altitude of 1,625 feet (495 meters).

According to a statement from Flightradar24 on X, the plane in question was an older model equipped with a previous generation of transponder, which could mean that some information could be inaccurate or unavailable. They also noted that the aircraft was operating in a zone where GPS signals were being interfered with, potentially leading to further data issues. Additionally, they mentioned that there were no known airports nearby where the signal loss occurred.

No reports have emerged indicating that a plane has crashed in the same region.