Reports in Turkish media had suggested Asma al-Assad wanted to end her marriage and leave Russia, where she and her husband were granted asylum after a rebel coalition overthrew the former president’s regime and took control of Damascus.

Asked about the reports in a news conference call, Dmitry Peskov said, “No, they do not correspond to reality.”

He also denied reports that Assad had been confined to Moscow and that his property assets had been frozen.

Russia was a staunch ally of the Assad regime and offered it military support during the civil war.

But reports in Turkish media on Sunday suggested the Assads were living under severe restrictions in the Russian capital, and that the former Syrian first lady had filed for divorce and wanted to return to London.

Mrs Assad is a dual Syrian-British national, but the UK foreign secretary has previously said she would not be allowed to return to Britain.

Speaking in parliament earlier this month, David Lammy said: “I want it confirmed that she’s a sanctioned individual and is not welcome here in the UK.”

He added he would do “everything I can in my power” to ensure no member of the Assad family “finds a place in the UK”.

In a statement attributed to Bashar al-Assad last week, he said he had never intended to flee Syria, but he was airlifted from a Russian military base at Moscow’s request.

Asma al-Assad, 49, was born in the UK to Syrian parents in 1975 and grew up in Acton, west London.

She moved to Syria in 2000 at the age of 25 and married her husband just months after he succeeded his father as president.

Throughout her 24 years as Syria’s first lady, Mrs Assad was a subject of curiosity in western media.

A controversial 2011 Vogue profile called her “a rose in the desert” and described her as “the freshest and most magnetic of first ladies”. The article has since been removed from the Vogue website.

Just one month later, Mrs Assad was criticised for remaining silent while her husband violently repressed pro-democracy campaigners at the start of the Syrian civil war.

The conflict went on to claim the lives of around half a million people, with her husband accused of using chemical weapons against civilians.

In 2016, Mrs Assad told Russian state-backed television she had rejected a deal to offer her safe passage out of the war-torn nation in order to stand by her husband.

She announced she was being treated for breast cancer in 2018 and said she had made a full recovery one year later.

She was diagnosed with leukaemia and began treatment for the disease in May this year, the office of then-President Assad announced.A statement said she would “temporarily withdraw” from public engagements.

Assad’s reported statement was put on the Telegram channel belonging to the Syrian presidency on Monday, although it is not clear who currently controls it – or whether he wrote it.

In it he says that, as the Syrian capital fell to rebels, he went to a Russian military base in Latakia province “to oversee combat operations” only to see that Syrian troops had abandoned positions.

Hmeimim airbase had also come under “intensified attack by drone strikes” and the Russians had decided to airlift him to Moscow, he says.

In the statement – published both in Arabic and English – the former Syrian leader reportedly describes what happened on 8 December – and how he was apparently besieged at the Russian base.

“With no viable means of leaving the base, Moscow requested that the base’s command arrange an immediate evacuation to Russia on the evening of Sunday 8th December,” the statement reads.

“This took place a day after the fall of Damascus, following the collapse of the final military positions and the resulting paralysis of all remaining state institutions.”

The statement adds that “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”.

“When the state falls into the hands of terrorism and the ability to make a meaningful contribution is lost, any position becomes void of purpose,” it says.

Assad was nowhere to be seen as Syrian cities and provinces fell to rebels led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) within a period of 12 days.

However, speculation mounted that he had fled the country as even his prime minister was not able to contact him during the rebel sweep into Damascus.

On 9 December, Russian media announced that he had been given asylum there – even though there has not been any official confirmation.

The Syrian rebel groups are continuing to form a transitional government.

HTS, Syria’s most powerful rebel group, was set up under a different name, Jabhat al-Nusra, in 2011 and pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda the following year.

Al-Nusra broke ties with al-Qaeda in 2016 and later took the name HTS when it merged with other factions. However, the UN, US, UK and a number of other countries continue to designate it as a terrorist group.

Its leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who previously used the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, has pledged tolerance for different religious groups and communities. But his group’s jihadist past has left some doubting whether it will live up to such promises.

Video and photos showed bodies wrapped in blood-stained white shrouds piled up inside a refrigerated room at Harasta Hospital on Monday.

Several of the bodies appeared to have wounds and bruising on their faces and torsos. Pieces of adhesive tape bearing numbers and names were also visible.

“I opened the door of the mortuary with my own hands, it was a horrific sight,” Mohammed al-Hajj, a member of a rebel group from southern Syria, told AFP news agency.

He said the rebels had gone to hospital after receiving a tip from a member of staff about bodies being dumped there.

“We informed the [rebel] military command of what we found and co-ordinated with the Syrian Red Crescent, which transported the bodies to a Damascus hospital so that families can come and identify them.”

It was not clear how long the bodies had been stored at the mortuary, but they were at various stages of decomposition.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, says almost 60,000 people were tortured and killed in the Assad government’s prisons.

Human rights groups say more than 100,000 people have disappeared since Assad ordered a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 2011 that triggered the civil war.

A Syrian non-governmental organisation said it was likely that the bodies in Harasta were detainees from the notorious Saydnaya prison, which is just to the north of Damascus.

“Harasta Hospital served as the main centre for collecting the bodies of detainees,” Diab Serriya, a co-founder of the Association of Detainees and the Missing in Sednaya Prison (ADMSP), told AFP.

“Bodies would be sent there from Saydnaya prison or Tishrin Hospital, and from Harasta, they would be transferred to mass graves,” he added.

The discovery of the bodies came as the Syria Civil Defence, whose rescue workers are widely known as the White Helmets, announced that it had concluded a search operation for possible detainees in secret cells or basements at Saydnaya prison without finding anyone.

Five specialised teams assisted by two K9 dog units and individuals familiar with the layout of the prison checked all buildings, basements, courtyards, ventilation shafts, sewage systems, surveillance camera cables and surrounding areas on Monday, as crowds gathered there in the hope of finding their missing relatives.

“The search did not uncover any unopened or hidden areas within the facility,” the Syria Civil Defence said.

“We share the profound disappointment of the families of the thousands who remain missing and whose fates remain unknown,” it added.

The ADMSP meanwhile shared what it said was an official document, dated 28 October, saying that 4,300 detainees were being held at Saydnaya.

They comprised 2,817 judicial detainees held in the prison’s “White Building” and 1,483 detainees held on charges related to terrorism and military tribunals in the “Red Building”.

“This approximate number represents the detainees who were released at the time of the prison’s liberation,” the ADMSP said.

Rebel fighters entered Saydnaya prison and Harasta hospital as they advanced into Damascus over the weekend, prompting President Bashar al-Assad to step down and flee the country.

The ADMSP said in a 2022 report that Saydnaya “effectively became a death camp” after the start of Syria’s civil war in 2011.

It estimated that more than 30,000 detainees had either been executed or died as a result of torture, lack of medical care or starvation at the facility between 2011 and 2018.

It also cited released inmates as saying that at least another 500 detainees had been executed between 2018 and 2021.

ADMSP also described how “salt chambers” were constructed to serve as primitive mortuaries to store bodies before they were transferred to Tishreen Hospital for registration and burial in graves on military land.

Amnesty International used the phrase “human slaughterhouse” to describe Saydnaya and alleged that the executions had been authorised at the highest levels of the Assad government, and that such practices amounted to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Assad government dismissed Amnesty’s claims as “baseless” and “devoid of truth”, insisting that all executions in Syria followed due process.

On Monday night, the leader of the Islamist militant group whose offensive led to the end of Assad’s 24-year rule said former senior officials who oversaw the torture of political prisoners would be held accountable.

Abu Mohammed al-Jolani of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) said the officials’ names would be published and repatriation sought for those who had fled abroad. Rewards would also be offered to anyone who provided information about their whereabouts, he added.

In a Saturday morning missive on social media, Trump addressed the surprise opposition offensive that has redrawn the battle lines in the Syrian conflict.

Syria is a mess, but is not our friend,” Trump wrote, before switching to all uppercase letters for emphasis. “THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!”

Trump campaigned for re-election in November’s presidential race by pushing an “America First” platform, one that critics feared could destabilise US alliances abroad.

In Syria, the US maintains no formal diplomatic relations with the government of embattled President Bashar al-Assad. But it does back the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led coalition based largely in the northeast, as an ally in defeating ISIL (ISIS).

The war in Syria has been raging since 2011, when “Arab Spring” protests erupted against al-Assad and the government responded with a heavy-handed crackdown. The situation sparked a multi-sided conflict, with four main groups holding territory in Syria.

But the boundaries of the conflict shifted dramatically on November 27, when opposition fighters led by the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) made a push from their northwestern stronghold of Idlib.

After reclaiming Aleppo in a lightning offensive, the opposition forces swept southward, capturing a string of government-held cities including Hama and Deraa and encircling other areas like Homs. By Saturday, they were kilometres from the capital, Damascus.

Trump, a Republican, noted the rapidly changing nature of the conflict in his Saturday post, calling the opposition offensive “unprecedented”. He predicted a “big move toward taking out Assad”.

Still, his post was largely focused on US relations with Russia and his ongoing rivalry with former President Barack Obama, a Democrat.

He made no mention of the Kurdish-led coalition, which holds about a quarter of Syria’s territory in many oil-rich regions.

Nor did Trump address the US troops currently in Syria, estimated to comprise fewer than 1,000 service members scattered across bases in places like Omar Oil Field and al-Shaddadi.

Instead, Trump pointed to Russian military weakness in Syria, where it backs al-Assad’s government.“Russia, because they are so tied up in Ukraine, and with the loss there of over 600,000 soldiers, seems incapable of stopping this literal march through Syria, a country they have protected for years,” he wrote.

“But now they are, like possibly Assad himself, being forced out, and it may actually be the best thing that can happen to them.”

Trump also used his post to take another jab at Obama, the predecessor to his first term.

During his time in office, from 2009 to 2017, Obama had called for al-Assad to step down and called the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian conflict a “red line” that would result in “enormous consequences”.

But Obama ultimately opted not to launch a full-scale military campaign, resorting instead to targeted air strikes against ISIL (ISIS). And ultimately the Syrian government agreed to dismantle its chemical weapons programme, as part of a deal brokered by Russia.

“Obama refused to honor his commitment of protecting the RED LINE IN THE SAND,” Trump wrote on Saturday. “There was never much of a benefit in Syria for Russia, other than to make Obama look really stupid.”

Still, US air attacks in the region have continued, even during the latest opposition offensive.

Just a few days ago, on December 3, the US conducted air strikes in Syria against weapons systems described as a “threat to US and coalition forces in Syria”.

But the administration of outgoing President Joe Biden, a Democrat, said the attacks against the weapons systems were no indication that the US was interested in joining the wider conflict.

“To be clear, these self-defense actions successfully eliminated imminent threats to U.S. personnel and were not linked to any broader activities in northwest Syria by other groups,” Pentagon Press Secretary Pat Ryder said in a statement.

Trump is slated to take over from Biden on January 20. But he has signalled he plans to disengage the US from overseas entanglements. He repeatedly told voters on the campaign trail, “I will prevent World War III from happening,” presenting himself as a candidate for peace.

Experts say US leaders may have other incentives to stay away from the Syrian conflict.

Joshua Landis, a Middle East studies professor at the University of Oklahoma, said the US is slated to face pressure from Turkiye, which considers the Kurdish fighters a “terrorist” threat.

“Turkiye is going to want the Americans to leave, and it’s going to want to attack the Kurds,” Landis said.

“It’s likely that President Trump, the new incoming president, will choose Turkiye over the Kurds.”

Syrian government officials and supporters were still asserting the army would hold the line at Hama, even as insurgent fighters were entering the city.

Shortly afterwards, the Syrian military acknowledged that it had pulled out of Hama, ceding control of the city for the first time to rebel factions.

After capturing two major cities within a week, the next target for the insurgents led by the Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), is Homs.

Tens of thousands of people are fleeing the city in anticipation of what looks likely to be the next major battle.The stakes have risen precipitously for President Bashar al-Assad and his key backers, Russia and Iran.

Homs is strategically considerably more significant than either Aleppo or Hama. It straddles a crossroads that leads west to the heartland of support for the Assad dynasty and south towards the capital, Damascus.

Whatever the previous strategy of HTS may have been, as it spent years building its power base in the north-western province of Idlib, the momentum of the past week now seems to be leading inexorably towards a direct challenge to the continuing rule of Assad.

In an interview with CNN, HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani confirmed the rebels do indeed aim to overthrow the Assad regime.

So, attention is now focusing on whether the Syrian leader has the capacity to see off this renewed attempt to topple him from power.

The Syrian army – which is largely made up of conscripts – might have lost the war years ago if outside forces had not come to Assad’s aid.

Soldiers are underpaid, under-equipped and often have poor morale, with desertion having long been an issue.

As his military failed to hold Aleppo and then Hama, Assad issued an order raising soldiers’ salary by 50% – but that in itself is unlikely to turn the tide.

Russian planes backed up Syrian forces in Hama, but clearly not strongly enough to make an impact.

The lack of all out Russian military support has fuelled speculation that Moscow may be less able to play the game changing role that it performed in Syria in 2015. That would be down to almost three years of war in Ukraine, draining its reserves of manpower and military hardware.

But Russia still has compelling reasons to stay the course with Assad. President Putin’s decisive, full-scale military intervention, which kept the Syrian leader in power when he was close to defeat, showed up the failure of Western allies – the US in particular – to honour their promises of support to the rebels.

The naval base that Russia has maintained for decades in the Syrian port of Tartus gives Moscow its only military hub in the Mediterranean. If the insurgents are able to take Homs, that could potentially open up a route towards the Syrian coast that could put the base at risk.

It still seems unlikely that Russia would not feel a political and strategic imperative to refocus its firepower on the rebels to keep Assad in power, even if only in control of a diminished rump of Syria drastically shrunk from the 60% he currently controls.

The other big question mark is over Iran and the militias it has backed – including Hezbollah- and the military expertise it has provided, which have been the other key element in keeping Assad in power.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem – who took over after Israel’s assassination of Hassan Nasrallah – has declared that the group will stand by the Syrian government, against what he has described as jihadist aggression orchestrated by the US and Israel.

But with its leadership decimated and its fighters still regrouping after Israel’s ground and air offensive against the group in Lebanon in recent months, Hezbollah may be nowhere near the strength it had when it battled on the frontline against Syrian rebel factions.

However, it clearly is still committed to playing its part, with security sources in Lebanon and Syria saying that elite forces from Hezbollah have crossed over into Syria and taken up positions in Homs.

As for Tehran, it currently seems to be edging away from both direct and proxy confrontations in the region, in contrast to its far more aggressive strategy in the past few years.

That may limit its appetite for the kind of full-scale military support for Assad that it has provided in the past.

There has been speculation that Iranian-backed militias in Iraq may enter the fray – but both the Iraqi government and one of the most powerful Shia leaders, Moqtada al-Sadr, have warned against this.

Assad’s chances of political survival will depend not only on the capabilities of his armed forces and his key allies, but also on the existing divisions between the various groups that oppose him.

Beyond HTS and the factions from Idlib, there are the Kurdish-led forces in the north-east, the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army in the north and a host of other groups that still have some purchase in various regions of the country.

Among them is the Islamic State (IS) group, which could take advantage of the latest conflict to try to make gains beyond the remote desert regions where it still has a toehold.

The failure of rebel factions to unite was one of the key factors in Assad’s political survival. He and his supporters will be hoping that events play out in the same way again.For now, support for the Syrian president as the least worst alternative still seems to be holding among several minority groups – including of course the Assads’ own minority Alawite sect.

They fear what they view as a jihadist force taking over their towns and cities. HTS may have renounced its previous affiliation with al-Qaeda, but many still see it as an extremist organisation.In the end, what Assad’s fate seems most likely to hinge on is what the main outside players in Syria decide.

Russia, Iran and Turkey have come to agreements before over conflict zones in Syria, most notably in Idlib four years ago – but the rapid surprise escalation in Syria may have blindsided them all.

They may all soon have to reassess and come to a decision on what suits their interests – a Syria with Assad or without.

The leader of the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani, declared “victory” in the city and vowed there would be “no revenge”.

Earlier, a rebel commander said HTS fighters and their allies had taken over a prison and released inmates, while the military said it had redeployed troops to “preserve civilian lives and prevent urban combat”.

Hama is home to one million people and is 110km (70 miles) south of Aleppo, which the rebels captured last week after launching a surprise offensive from their stronghold in the north-west.

The rebel commander told residents of Homs, which is the next city south on the highway from Aleppo to Damascus, that “your time has come”.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring group, says that more than 720 people, including 111 civilians, have been killed across the country since the start of the rebel offensive eight days ago.

More than half a million people in Syria have been killed since a civil war erupted in 2011 after President Bashar al-Assad’s government cracked down violently on peaceful pro-democracy protests.

Earlier this week, the United Nations expressed alarm at the sudden escalation of the conflict and warned that the country was “grave danger of further division, deterioration, and destruction”.

President Assad has vowed to “crush” the rebels and accused Western powers of trying to redraw the map of the region, while his key allies Russia and Iran have offered their “unconditional support”.

Russian warplanes have intensified their strikes on rebel-held areas in recent days, Iran-backed militias have sent fighters to reinforce the government’s defensive lines, and Iran has said it is ready to send additional forces to Syria if asked.

Turkey, which supports the Syrian opposition but has denied reports that it is involved in the HTS-led offensive, has urged Assad to engage in a political process with the opposition to bring an end to Syria’s 13-year civil war.

Turkish-backed rebel factions have meanwhile capitalised on the government’s retreat in the north by launching a separate offensive on a pocket of territory near Aleppo that was controlled by a Kurdish-led militia alliance, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Turkey, which has a large restive Kurdish minority, considers the Kurds in Syria as a threat.

Before the start of the rebel offensive, the government had regained control of Syria’s main cities with the help of Russia, Iran and Iran-backed militias. However, large parts of the country remained out of its control.

The rebels’ last stronghold was in Aleppo and Idlib provinces, which border Turkey and where more than four million people were living, many of them displaced from government-held areas.

The enclave was dominated by HTS, which is designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN, US, Turkey and other countries because it was al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria until it formally broke ties in 2016.

A number of allied rebel factions and jihadist groups were also based there, along with Turkish-backed SNA factions and Turkish forces.