Russia blames Bashar al-Assad and his regime for Syrian rebellion

Russia has publicly distanced itself from Bashar al-Assad, as Moscow’s foreign minister says it was the regime’s inability to deal with social problems that led to the insurgency.

Bullet holes deface a mural depicting Bashar al-Assad in Damascus. Picture; AFP

Russia has publicly distanced itself from Bashar al-Assad, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov openly blaming the ousted Syrian president for his own downfall.

In remarkable comments on the rebellion that forced Assad and his family to flee the country, Mr Lavrov said the insurgency succeeded because the government failed to address the country’s social problems

“We can say that one of the reasons for the deterioration of the situation was the inability of the former government to meet the basic needs of the population amid the protracted civil conflict,” Mr Lavrov told Russia’s state news agency TASS.

Mr Lavrov also blamed sanctions for the revolution that saw Assad and his family flee Syria for Russia earlier this month.

“After the successes achieved in combating international terrorism, in which the Russian Air Force also participated, the Syrians expected their lives to improve,” he said, adding that sanctions imposed by the US and its allies had worked against this.

Russia has been one of Assad’s major supporters for nearly a decade, propping up his regime since 2015 and has two military bases in the country.

But as rebel troops led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) swept through the country in a lightning assault at the beginning of December, Russia’s troops didn’t remain to defend Damascus, instead retreating as HTS and its allies descended.

Portraits of toppled Syrian president Bashar al-Assad lie on the ground at an army barracks in the town of Dummar near Damascus. Picture: AFP.

Even before the rebellion, Russia had begun to withdraw support for Assad. According to Reuters, the Syrian leader visited the Kremlin on November 28 to plead for Russian military intervention against the Syrian rebel forces and was given a negative response.

And as HTS claimed victory in Syria Mr Lavrov, who on December 7 had described the rebels as terrorists, switched to calling them an “armed opposition group.”

Last week, Assad claimed that he had only fled the country on Moscow’s orders, claiming that he remained in Damascus until December 8 before moving to Hmeimim Air Base in the coastal city of Latakia “in co-ordination with our Russian allies to oversee combat operations.”

After the last Syrian army positions crumbled and the Russian base itself came under renewed drone attacks, Moscow ordered an evacuation to Russia, he said in a statement carried by TASS.

Russia has granted political asylum to Assad and his family but the swift collapse of the regime has dealt a devastating blow for Russia’s image as a key player on the global stage.

Moscow is still concerned it could lose Russia’s key naval base, Tartus, along with its air base in Latakia, and has started to move military assets to Libya.

President Vladimir Putin admitted recently he hadn’t met Assad since his ousting, although he said he would make it a priority.

Meanwhile the Kremlin has denied reports that Asma al-Assad, the former dictator’s British-born wife, has filed for a divorce.

Arabic and Turkish media have claimed Asma was dissatisfied with her quality of life in Moscow, while Turkish media also reported the former Syrian president had been confined to Moscow by the Kremlin and his assets in Russia had been frozen.

Assad and his family are estimated to possess 270kg of gold and nearly $1bn, as well as real estate.