Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, who fled the country on Saturday as rebels approached the capital Damascus, has arrived in Moscow and been granted asylum by the Russian government, according to Russian news agency Tass.

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

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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad visit an air base in Latakia province, Syria, December 11, 2017. (Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/via Reuters/File)

Assad was forced to flee the country after a coalition of mostly radical Islamist groups led a sweeping offensive across Syria that culminated in the capture of the country’s capital and the overthrow of Assad’s regime, whose family had ruled Syria for more than 50 years.

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

On December 2, 2024, rebels in northwestern Syria seized regime military vehicles en route to Kweris airport in the eastern Aleppo countryside. (Rami Alsayed/NurPhoto via APRami Alsayed/NurPhoto via AP)

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Assad has long been an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has provided military resources to defend the Assad regime and its government forces for more than a decade.

According to a report by the Interfax news agency, citing a Kremlin source, Assad is now arriving in Russia with his family.

Fighters enter the Rashidin district on the outskirts of Aleppo on November 29, 2024. (Bakr Alkasem/AFP via Getty Images)

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“Syrian President Assad has arrived in Moscow. Russia granted them (him and his family) asylum on humanitarian grounds,” the source told the medium.