Syria's Assad, his family have arrived in Moscow after being granted asylum, sources tell Russian news agencies
Editor's Note: This is a developing story and is being upodated.
Russian news agencies reported on Dec. 8 that Syria's Bashar al-Assad and his family have arrived in Russia, where they have been granted asylum by Russian authorities, according to a Kremlin source.
"President Assad of Syria has arrived in Moscow. Russia has granted asylum to him and his family on humanitarian grounds," the source told TASS news agency.
A Russian plane took off from Latakia a few hours ago, then turned off its transponder and headed towards Russia, BBC Russia reported citing data from the Flightradar website, which tracks the movement of aircraft.
The aircraft may have departed from the Russian military base in Khmeimim or from Latakia airport, according to the outlet. The plane's transponder was reportedly briefly switched on near Moscow and then turned off again before landing.
Russia deployed troops to Syria in 2015, providing support to the Assad regime against multiple anti-government forces. Damascus has supported the Kremlin throughout the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.