The Last Hours of Assad in Syria: Deception, Despair, and Escape

Bashar al-Assad did not inform almost anyone about his plans to flee Syria as his rule was collapsing. Instead, his aides, government officials, and even his relatives were either deceived or not informed at all.

The Last Hours of Assad in Syria: Deception, Despair, and Escape

Bashar al-Assad did not inform almost anyone about his plans to flee Syria as his rule was collapsing. Instead, his aides, government officials, and even his relatives were either deceived or not informed at all, according to more than ten people familiar with the events who spoke to Reuters.

Just hours before his escape to Moscow, Assad assured around 30 military and security leaders at the Ministry of Defense during a Saturday meeting that Russian military support was on its way and urged ground forces to hold their positions, according to a commander who attended the meeting and requested anonymity.Civilian staff were also unaware of anything.A close aide revealed that Assad told his chief of staff on Saturday, after finishing his work, that he would be returning home, but instead, he headed to the airport.

The aide added that Assad also called his media adviser, Bouthaina Shaaban, and asked her to come to his house to write a speech for him. However, when she arrived, no one was there.

Nadim Houry, executive director of the Arab Reform Initiative, a regional research institution, said, "Assad did not show any resistance. He did not mobilize his forces. He left his supporters to face their fate on their own."

Reuters was unable to contact Assad in Moscow, where he was granted political asylum.

Interviews with 14 people familiar with Assad's final days and hours in power reveal the image of a leader seeking external assistance to extend his 24-year rule before resorting to deception and secrecy to plan his exit from Syria in the early hours of last Sunday morning.

Most of the sources — including aides from the former president's inner circle, regional diplomats, security officials, and senior Iranian officials — requested anonymity to freely discuss these sensitive matters.

Three aides stated that Assad did not even inform his younger brother, Maher, the commander of the 4th Armored Division, about his plan to leave. One of them mentioned that Maher flew by helicopter to Iraq and then to Russia.

Similarly, Assad left behind his two cousins, Ihab and Iyad Makhlouf, when Damascus fell into the hands of opposition forces, according to a Syrian aide and a Lebanese security official. They added that the two attempted to flee to Lebanon by car but were ambushed on the road by opposition fighters, who shot and killed Ihab and wounded Iyad.

There has been no official confirmation of Ihab's death, and Reuters was unable to independently verify the incident.

Two regional diplomats stated that Assad fled Damascus on Sunday, December 8, in a plane that disappeared from radar after its transponder was turned off, escaping from opposition fighters who had stormed the capital.

This dramatic exit marked the end of his 24-year rule and over half a century of family rule, leading to a sudden halt in the 13-year civil war.

Assad flew by plane to the Russian Hmeimim Airbase in Latakia on the Syrian coast, and from there, he traveled to Moscow.

Assad's family members, including his wife Asma and their three children, were already waiting for him in the Russian capital, according to three close aides and a senior regional official.

Video footage from Assad’s home, captured by opposition fighters and citizens who gathered at the presidential compound after his departure and posted on social media, shows he left in haste. Cooked food was left on the stove, and many personal belongings, such as family photo albums, were abandoned.