the ousted president deplores that the country has “fallen into the hands of terrorism”

In a statement published Monday on the social network Telegram, Bashar al-Assad asserts that his departure from Syria was not “planned”.

This is his first speech since the fall of his regime. The ousted Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, published a statement on the social network Telegram on Monday, December 16. “When the state falls into the hands of terrorism and the capacity to make a useful contribution is lost, any position becomes meaningless”he writes in particular.

He also talks about his escape. “My departure from Syria was not planned nor did it take place during the final hours of the battle, contrary to some allegations”writes Bashar al-Assad. “Moscow demanded (..) an immediate evacuation to Russia on the evening of Sunday December 8”he continues.

The head of the deposed state claims to have stayed in Damascus, the capital, until December 8, before going to Latakia, a coastal city in north-west Syria, where there is a Russian air base. Bashar al-Assad says he has “supervised combat operations”, “in coordination with [ses] Russian allies. When the Russian base was targeted “by intensified drone strikes”the Russians then decided to evacuate him, according to the Syrian president's version.