Deposed Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad misled his Army and security chief into believing that Russia was sending troops to fight rebels before secretly fleeing Damascus. No one in the ministry or his family, including his younger brother Maher, was aware of his plan to escape from Syria.
Hours before the Islamic insurgents led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) stormed Damascus, Assad convened a meeting of 30 army and security chiefs at the defence ministry. He then informed them that Russian military support was on its way and urged them to hold their ground, Reuters quoted a commander who spoke on conditions of anonymity.
After he finished work on Saturday, Assad informed his presidential office manager that he was going home. He also summoned his media adviser Buthaina Shaaban to his home to write him a speech. She arrived at Assad's house to find it empty.
Assad even kept his younger brother, Maher, commander of the Army’s elite 4th Armored Division, in the dark. Maher later escaped Syria on a helicopter, first to Iraq and then to Russia. Not just Maher, Assad's maternal cousins Ehab and Eyad Makhlouf too were not informed about his move. The duo learned about their fate once the rebels stormed Damascus. They fled by car to Lebanon but, according to unconfirmed reports, were ambushed by rebels. Ehab was reportedly shot dead while Eyad was wounded.
On December 8, Assad went directly to the Syrian airbase and fled Damascus by plane. The aircraft’s transponder was switched off to avoid detection. It was Russian intelligence agents who persuaded Assad to flee Syria and the agents themselves orchestrated the escape. The plane took him to Russia’s Hmeimim airbase in the Syrian coastal city of Latakia, and from there on to Moscow.
Though his wife and three children already left Syria for Moscow, Assad's departure was last-minute, as evident from the images of a mob rampage on his presidential complex. Images showed cooked food left on the stove and personal belongings left behind, such as family photo albums.
Assad had already known that Russia wouldn't intervene during his visit to Moscow on November 28. However, didn’t convey the reality of the situation to aides back home, and told his close aides that "military support was coming."
Though he met an Iranian official, Assad never requested that Tehran deploy forces in Syria. As he decided to leave the country, Assad reportedly wanted asylum in UAE but was denied by its rulers fearing international backlash. His only option then was Russia.
“Even if Putin disliked Assad, he was never going to let him get devoured by the rebels,” the former diplomat told The Guardian.
However, Assad will have to make do without his extravagant lifestyle in Moscow. What possibly awaits him is life under tight surveillance of Russian security officers, probably in a secluded estate.
