Former Syrian President Bashar Assad released on Monday his first statement since the fall of his regime, recounting his final hours before evacuation and addressing the unexpected rise of the rebel forces that conquered his country.
The former president claims he spent his final hours in Syria at the Russia-controlled Khmeimim Air Base, where he sought to continue coordinating his forces after the capital city of Damascus fell.
“My departure from Syria was neither planned nor did it occur in the final hours of the battles,” Assad claimed in the communique. “As terrorist forces infiltrated Damascus, I moved to Latakia in coordination with our Russian allies to oversee combat operations.”
The statement gives an alleged timeline of when the former president learned the situation for his Syrian Arab Army went from dire to insurmountable as terrorist group Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham quashed his last remaining defenses.
“Upon arrival at the Khmeimim Air Base that morning, it became clear that our forces had completely withdrawn from all battle lines and that the last army positions had fallen,” Assad wrote. “As the field situation in the area continued to deteriorate, the Russian military base itself came under intensified attack by drone strikes.”
The former president claimed it was the Russians’ decision to evacuate him from the country as rebel forces enclosed their positions and threatened their own security.
“With no viable means of leaving the base, Moscow requested that the base’s command arrange an immediate evacuation to Russia on the evening of Sunday 8th December,” Assad said. “This took place a day after the fall of Damascus, following the collapse of the final military positions and the resulting paralysis of all remaining state institutions.”
The Kremlin has affirmed that Assad’s rescue was arranged by Russian President Vladimir Putin himself. The Assad family arrived in Russia on Dec. 8 and is being lodged by the government at an undisclosed location on humanitarian grounds.
Assad claims a “total communication blackout for security reasons” kept him from speaking about the fall of his regime until now.
The deposed world leader also derided narrative “distortions” that he claims are “recasting international terrorism as a liberation revolution for Syria.”
“I have never sought positions for personal gain but have always considered myself as a custodian of a national project, supported by the faith of the Syrian people, who believed in its vision,” Assad said. “I have carried an unwavering conviction in their will and ability to protect the state, defend its institutions, and uphold their choices to the very last moment.”
He concluded, “When the state falls into the hands of terrorism and the ability to make a meaningful contribution is lost, any position becomes void of purpose, rendering its occupation meaningless. This does not, in any way, diminish my profound sense of belonging to Syria and her people — a bond that remains unshaken by any position or circumstance. It is a belonging filled with hope that Syria will once again be free and independent.”
The testimony is a logistically plausible narrative that portrays Assad in a sympathetic, even valiant, light. But accounts given by Syrian officials have characterized the final days of his presidency much differently.
Previous testimonies from government officials close to Assad suggest that his escape from Damascus was swift and unannounced. His office manager, media adviser, and other political staffers were kept busy with errands throughout the fall of the capital city — until their boss was suddenly absent without notice.
Former Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Jalali said he spoke to Assad late at night on Dec. 7 and that the president told him that public concerns would be addressed tomorrow. Jalali called back on the morning of Dec. 8, and Assad was already nowhere to be found.
“He replied: ‘Tomorrow, we will see,’” Jalali said in an interview with Reuters. “‘Tomorrow, tomorrow’ was the last thing he told me.”
Even his own brother, Maher Assad, didn’t know Bashar was leaving until he was already on the plane to Moscow.
An investigation of export data shows the Assads scurried out of Syria with approximately $250 million in cash, according to the Financial Times. That money was then allegedly deposited in accounts held by Russian Financial Corporation Bank and TsMR Bank.
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The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed last week that Assad had hoped to carve out a statelet for himself on the Syrian coast.
That idea, which would have required the protection of the Russian military, was reportedly rejected by Putin.
