Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has arrived in Moscow with his family after accepting the Kremlin's offer of asylum, Russian state news agency TASS reported on December 8.

Assad departed Damascus by private jet late December 7, after initially landing in Abu Dhabi as first reported by bne IntelliNews, as opposition forces closed within kilometres of the Syrian capital. The timing of his subsequent departure from the United Arab Emirates to Moscow remains unclear, according to diplomatic sources.

The departure comes amid a dramatic collapse of government control across Syria. Opposition forces, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and their leader Ahmed Hussein al-Shar'a, otherwise known as Abu Al-Jolani, have captured three major cities in a lightning offensive that began last week with the fall of Aleppo.

Flight tracking data showed multiple return flights by private aircraft between Damascus and the UAE on December 7 before another jet allegedly crashed and landed in the Syrian countryside. Reuters reported that speculation over whether Assad was on that plane.

Diplomatic positions appear to be shifting rapidly in recent hours. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, speaking in Doha, modified Moscow's stance toward the Syrian opposition for the first time since 2016, with the Kremlin in confirmed talks with different groups over its military base in Tartus, now under opposition control.  

Iran has similarly adjusted its rhetoric, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi referring to opposition forces as "legal occupants" during an interview in Doha, abandoning the previous characterisation of all opposition as "terrorists."

The developments follow a week of rapid territorial losses for the Syrian government. Opposition forces have advanced to the outskirts of Homs, while regime loyalists have fled toward the Mediterranean coast.

Assad had already sent his wife and three children to Moscow in the previous week, presaging his own departure.

The sudden exit of Syria's leader after more than two decades in power marks a dramatic turning point in the country's civil conflict and the end of the 53-year-old government of father and son.