Russia has granted the family asylum on “humanitarian grounds”, the Interfax, TASS and Ria Novosti news agencies reported on Sunday, quoting the unnamed source.

Al-Assad’s whereabouts were unknown after armed opposition fighters captured Damascus in the early hours of Sunday morning, declaring that his government had been toppled. The advance came less than two weeks into the opposition’s lightning offensive.

“Right now we see that a number of sources, including the BBC’s Russian service, for instance, have reported that al-Assad could possibly have been evacuated by a Russian plane from a Russian air base in Latakia, Syria that took off several hours ago with its transponders turned off,” Al Jazeera said from Russia’s capital Moscow.

Speaking at the White House, US President Joe Biden stated that he was not sure where al-Assad was, but that “there is word he is in Moscow”.

“The fall of the regime is a fundamental act of justice. It’s a moment of historic opportunity for the long-suffering people of Syria to build a better future for their proud country,” Biden also said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry had said earlier on Sunday that al-Assad had resigned and left Syria.Crowds ransacked the deposed leader’s opulent home after the opposition forces declared he had fled.

Residents in the capital were seen cheering in the streets shortly after rebel factions declared “the city of Damascus free”.

Meanwhile, Russian news agencies also reported that Syrian opposition leaders have guaranteed the safety of Russian military bases and diplomatic missions inside Syria.

“Russian officials are in contact with representatives of the armed Syrian opposition, whose leaders have guaranteed the safety of Russian military bases and diplomatic institutions on the territory of Syria,” TASS reported, citing a Kremlin source.

That is despite Russia having been an active participant in Syria’s war, supporting al-Assad and carrying out repeated bombing raids on opposition areas, resulting in the deaths of civilians. Russian support reversed the tide of the war in 2015, when opposition fighters were threatening Damascus. Instead, al-Assad was able to push the opposition to enclaves in the north of the country, until the rapid rebel advance that began in late November.

The events of Sunday came after 13 years of war, which also put an end to more than half a century of the al-Assad family’s rule.

The Syrian war started as a largely unarmed uprising against al-Assad in March 2011, which eventually became an all-out war that dragged in foreign powers, killed hundreds of thousands of people and turned millions into refugees across the world.

In a statement broadcast live on Syrian national television on Sunday, a group of fighters said the “tyrant al-Assad has been toppled” and that all prisoners have been freed from a major prison facility in Damascus.

The city of Damascus has been liberated. The tyrant Bashar al-Assad has been toppled. All the prisoners have been released from the prison of Damascus,” a leader of the group said.

“We wish all our fighters and citizens preserve and maintain the property of the state of Syria. Long live Syria,” he added.

The opposition said al-Assad, whose family ruled Syria for more than 50 years, had fled the capital. His whereabouts remain unknown.In a video statement, Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali said the government was ready to “extend its hand” to the opposition and turn its functions over to a transitional government.

“I am in my house and I have not left, and this is because of my belonging to this country,” al-Jalili said in a video statement. He said he would go to his office to continue work in the morning and called on Syrian citizens not to deface public property.

At the same time, Abu Mohamed al-Julani, head of the main fighting group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has ordered opposition fighters to not attack any public institutions and services.

There is footage captured showing the opposition fighters entering the presidential palace in Damascus. Videos posted online also showed residents taking down images of the president.

“The fall of the Assad regime is the end of an era in the Middle East, and it will have big news implications across the region,” said Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh.

The armed opposition also shared a video that it says was taken by its fighters from the strategic Mezzeh airbase in Damascus. The site played a crucial role in launching government rocket attacks and air raids against opposition-held territory.

Earlier on Sunday, fighters entered the heart of the capital, announcing a “new era” free of revenge and inviting Syrians overseas to return. Opposition forces had already seized the cities of Aleppo and Hama, as well as large parts of the south, in a lightning offensive that began on November 27.

Hadi al-Bahra, who heads the Syrian political opposition coalition overseas, declared Damascus “free of al-Assad” and congratulated the Syrian people.

Fighters released the prisoners held in Sednaya Prison north of Damascus, as they have done in other cities they took during their advance.

Witnesses reported jubilation in the capital, with chants of “Freedom! Freedom!” heard in a main square.Omar Horanieh, a resident of the capital said that before opposition fighters entered the city, he heard loud blasts and sounds of shooting.

He said once the fighters entered the city, “everyone was shouting God is the greatest”.

Celebrations were also reported in the city of Latakia as well as along the border with Lebanon.

Meanwhile, in the opposition stronghold of Aleppo, residents toppled a statue of the former president, late Hafez al-Assad, father of Bashar al-Assad.

The Syrian opposition groups’ Administration of Military Affairs also said its forces are advancing in the western Deir Az Zor countryside.

The Syrian war started as a largely unarmed uprising against al-Assad in March 2011, but morphed into a full-blown war that dragged in foreign powers, killed hundreds of thousands of people and turned millions into refugees.

James Dorsey, a Middle East specialist, said the Syrian military’s collapse was “always a question of when, not if”.

“It simply shows us how on brittle the support for al-Assad regime’s was, and also how brittle Syrian military was,” he said.

“If you don’t have a national military on the ground to defend the regime, then there’s really very little that the Iranians or the Russians could have done, short of virtually occupying the country,” he said, referring to Assad’s main backers.

Dorsey said al-Assad framed the war as one against “terrorists” and “systematically sabotaged any attempt to have a peaceful process in which there would be reform of the Syrian political system.

“People were forced into the military and often not paid properly and not compensated properly. So the fact that they would ultimately jump ship or not put their lives on the on line for a regime that wasn’t catering to their needs is not really a surprise.”

Fighters have entered the heart of Damascus and declared a “new era” free of revenge, inviting Syrians overseas to return.

Hadi al-Bahra, who heads the Syrian political opposition coalition overseas, declared Damascus “free of al-Assad” and congratulated the Syrian people.

Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali says he remains in his home, willing to cooperate with the opposition, and wants to ensure public institutions continue to function.

At the same time, Abu Mohamed al-Julani, head of main fighting group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has ordered opposition fighters to not attack any public institutions and services.

Witnesses report jubilation in Damascus, with chants of “Freedom! Freedom!” as Syrians celebrate an end to more than 50 years of rule by Bashar al-Assad and his father Hafez before him.

Fighters released the prisoners held in Sednaya Prison north of Damascus, as they have done in other cities they have taken during their lightning advance over the past 10 days or so.

Soldiers are reported to have dropped their weapons in the face of the advancing rebel fighters and, early on Sunday morning, the army command confirmed that al-Assad’s rule was done, Reuters reported.

The same scenes of celebration had been seen only hours before as the fighters entered and took control of the city of Homs, two hours drive north of Damascus, with little to no resistance.

Homs’s strategic location meant that once the rebel fighters controlled it, they had severed the connection between the capital and al-Assad’s coastal strongholds of Lattakia and Tartus.

The rebels seized Hama to the north on Thursday, a second major blow to President Bashar al Assad who lost control of Aleppo last week.

The leader of the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani, told residents of Homs “your time has come”.

Syrian rebels launched a surprise offensive against the government last week and have so far captured two major cities.

They have been advancing south – and Homs is the next city on the road from Aleppo to Damascus.

Terrified members of President Assad’s Alawite minority community are leaving Homs, with video footage showing roads jammed with cars.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring group, is reporting that fighter jets have targeted a bridge on a road linking Homs and Hama to try to slow the rebels’ advance.

After the Syrian military lost control of Hama following days of fighting, it is not clear whether it will be able to defend Homs.

It is a strategic city linking the capital to the Alawite heartland on the Mediterranean coast, Assad’s political stronghold and key to his grip on power.

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

The rebel offensive which began nine days ago is the swiftest battlefield advance by either side since the civil war.

The SOHR says more than 820 people, including 111 civilians, have been killed across the country so far.

Earlier, HTS fighters and their allies took over Hama central prison and released inmates amid fierce battles, while the military said it had redeployed troops outside the city.

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.

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”.

In the past, President Assad relied on Russia and Iran to crush his opponents.

Russian warplanes have intensified strikes on rebel-held areas, 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.

But with both allies preoccupied with their own affairs, it is unclear how – or if – he will be able to stop an advance that could threaten his government’s survival.

Meanwhile the UN has said the fighting is also “worsening an already horrific situation for civilians in the north of the county”.

An estimated 280,000 people have been displaced, most of them women and children, and some civilians are trapped in front-line areas unable to reach safer locations.

In Aleppo, a city of two million people, some public services and critical facilities – including hospitals, bakeries, power stations, water, internet and telecommunications – are disrupted or non-functional because of shortages of supplies and personnel.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged “all those with influence to do their part” to end the civil war.

“They will not be able to achieve their goals despite what they have done in past days, and we as Hezbollah will be by Syria’s side in thwarting the goals of this aggression as much as we can,” Qassem said on Thursday, adding that the “aggression” is sponsored by the United States and Israel.

His comments came hours after Syrian opposition forces captured the strategic city of Homs in central Syria, their latest victory in a lightning offensive that was launched eight days ago.

Qassem did not give details of how Hezbollah would support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but said the Iran-aligned group would do what it could.

Hezbollah is currently observing a fragile, US-brokered ceasefire agreement with Israel, after a year of war that has brought much devastation to Lebanon’s south in particular.

Many of the group’s leadership have been killed in Israeli attacks, while tens of thousands of Lebanese civilians have been driven from their homes.

Civilians have also borne the brunt of Syria’s 13-year-long war, which had been largely frozen since 2020 until opposition forces led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former al-Qaeda affiliate, launched a new offensive from their strongholds in northwest Syria last week.

Over the weekend the rebels captured Aleppo, the country’s second largest city, before pushing south and entering Hama on Thursday.

More than 280,000 people have been displaced by the recent fighting, the United Nations World Food Programme said in a post on X.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an end to the fighting and said the escalating conflict in Syria is the result of a “chronic collective failure” of diplomacy.

Guterres called for immediate humanitarian access to all civilians in need in Syria and a return to a UN-facilitated political process to end the bloodshed.

“Tens of thousands of civilians are at risk in a region already on fire,” Guterres told reporters.

“We are seeing the bitter fruits of a chronic collective failure of previous de-escalation arrangements to produce a genuine nationwide ceasefire or a serious political process to implement Security Council resolutions,” he said.

He urged “all those with influence to do their part for the long-suffering people” of Syria and said all parties are obligated to protect civilians.

While al-Assad relied heavily on Russian and Iranian backing throughout the most intense years of Syria’s war, some opposition groups established ties with Turkiye.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday called on al-Assad to urgently find a “political solution” to the war.

“The Syrian regime must commit urgently with its people in favour of a global political solution,” Erdogan said in a call with Guterres, according to a statement released by the presidency.

Erdogan, whose country has become home to about three million Syrian refugees since the war started in 2011, has held several discussions with other leaders on the crisis in recent days.

“Turkiye has been striving to reduce tensions, protect civilians and open a political process and will continue to do so,” Erdogan was quoted as saying in the statement.

Highlighting that the conflict has reached a “new stage”, Erdogan said, “Turkiye’s biggest wish is that Syria does not become embroiled in bigger instability and see even more civilian victims.”

Erdogan was an outspoken critic of al-Assad for much of the war but has recently taken a more conciliatory line.