Deposed Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad , speaking out for the first time since rebels ended more than 50 years of his family’s brutal rule , said he stayed in the country until the regime’s last defenses crumbled before being evacuated to Russia.
The comments, distributed Monday by social-media accounts long controlled by the Syrian presidency and published by the Russian state news agency TASS, were framed as a rebuttal of reports that he had fled and said he held on until forced to depart.
A longtime spokeswoman and several other officials close to the Assads couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Following a protracted civil war and long stalemate, a lightning assault by rebels brought down the regime in 11 days. Assad disappeared from view as rebel forces descended on the capital Damascus on the night of Dec. 7, skipping a previously announced address to the nation. His cabinet had no idea where he was and learned with the rest of the world on Sunday that he had fled to Russia.
Assad said in the statement that he remained in Damascus until early Dec. 8 before moving to Hmeimim Air Base in the coastal city of Latakia “in coordination with our Russian allies to oversee combat operations.” After the last Syrian army positions crumbled and the Russian base itself came under renewed drone attacks, Moscow ordered an evacuation to Russia, he said.
Russia granted political asylum to Assad and his family, TASS reported at the time.
“At no point during these events did I consider stepping down or seeking refuge, nor was such a proposal made by any individual or party,” Assad said. “The only course of action was to continue fighting against the terrorist onslaught.”
In fact, the regime that Russia and Iran spent years propping up had collapsed without much of a fight. Rebels captured one city after the next beginning with Aleppo on Nov. 30. Assad’s forces had been low on supplies and exhausted from years of war. Meanwhile, Russia’s ability to come to Syria’s defense had been drained by the war in Ukraine, while Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah had been battered by attacks by Israel.
The de facto authorities in Damascus are now a mix of rebel factions, with a former al Qaeda affiliate called Hayat Tahrir al-Sham wielding significant influence.
The U.S. is in contact with HTS and is communicating Washington’s hope that a transitional government can quickly establish security and prevent the country from descending into chaos, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a tour of the region over the weekend.
Hassan Hassan, a Syrian-American analyst, said Assad’s statement was probably prompted in response to criticism from his own supporters. The longtime dictator’s “disgraceful abandonment is arguably the best gift to the new Syria,” Hassan wrote on X. “Any other way might have kept the doors open for a unified front for the most loyal Assadists.”
Meanwhile, the Israeli military continued to launch airstrikes on Syria as it takes advantage of the chaos in the country to dismantle its longtime foe’s military capabilities, including missiles and air-defense systems it doesn’t want to fall into rebel hands.
An online video verified by Storyful, which is owned by News Corp, the parent company of The Wall Street Journal, showed large plums of orange smoke emanating from the site of an explosion in Tartus, a port city on the Syrian coast. One target of the most recent strikes included a large warehouse holding nonstrategic weapons including rockets, mines and antitank missiles, according to Israel’s state-owned Army Radio.
While the U.S. says it has hit dozens of Islamic State targets in Syria, Israel’s attacks have been far more comprehensive, with more than 350 strikes across the country. Israeli officials said the strikes have targeted military infrastructure ranging from cruise missiles and air-defense systems to tanks, intelligence centers and missiles.
Israeli intelligence has tracked the Syrian regime for years, including its cooperation with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The strikes appear aimed at taking advantage of the lack of an official government to get rid of a long-perceived threat. They are also seen in Tel Aviv as helping clear a path toward Iran—if Israel were to engage in further strikes there—by knocking out air-defense systems, according to an Israeli official.
Analysts say that Israel has significantly weakened Iranian influence through its ground invasion and punishing strikes in both Lebanon and Syria as well as the killing of much of Hezbollah’s top leadership since the summer.
At the same time, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi fighters have continued to fire at Israel, including a ballistic missile launched on Monday that sounded sirens in Tel Aviv. The Israeli military said it intercepted the projectile.
Write to Stephen Kalin at stephen.kalin@wsj.com and Anat Peled at anat.peled@wsj.com
