Russia accelerates Syria exit as it suspends grain supply

Video reportedly shows Russian troops pouring into Khmeimim airbase in Syria | Credit: SameralAtrush/X

Russia has accelerated its military withdrawal from Syria and suspended a grain deal with the country over concerns about the rebel-led government.

Russian soldiers were filmed packing up an S-400 air defence missile system at their Khmeimim airbase as armoured personnel carriers and military trucks poured into the compound days after the ousting of Bashar al-Assad as president.

On Thursday, it was reported that the Kremlin believed it was close to striking a deal with the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, which overthrew Assad, to keep the airbase and the Tartus naval base in Syria but the status of any such agreement remains unclear.

As well as its two main bases on the Mediterranean coast, Russia had maintained several smaller forward operating bases across Syria. These now appear to have been abandoned.

Assad’s exit has undermined Vladimir Putin’s strategies for projecting power across the Middle East and Africa which had been hinged around the bases in Syria as vital refuelling points, analysts believe.

Satellite imagery released by Maxar showed two Antonov An-124 cargo aircraft on the runway of the Khmeimim base. The An-124 is the largest heavy-lift aircraft in the world.

Several other smaller transport aircraft could also be seen.

Pro-Kremlin military blogs posted images of convoys of military trucks heading towards Khmeimim and Tartus.

Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, GUR, said that “the remnants of the Russian military contingent from the most remote regions of Syria are being withdrawn to the naval and air bases in Tartus and Khmeimim”.

“There are four to five military transport aircraft flying between Khmeimim and Russian airfields every day,” GUR said.

Oliver Alexander, an open-source analyst, said drone footage of the built-up area around the Khmeimim base showed how hard it would be for Russia to keep it operational, even if a deal was struck with rebels.

He also said that Russian forces were filmed packing up a radar kit that was vital for operating its S-400 air defence missiles.

Mr Alexander said: “The Russian S-400 is definitely leaving. They have packed up their 91N6E radar and it was parked on the apron ready to be loaded on to an An-124.”

Dara Massicot, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank, said that it was clear that the Russian army was withdrawing at least part of its forces from Syria.

“With commercial ships and Russian navy cargo ships on the way, a pick-up in air traffic at Khmeimim, and consolidation from Russian forward operating bases in Syria to the main bases, the withdrawal is picking up steam,” she said.

Michael Kofman, also at Carnegie, said in a post on X that it was “still unclear” if it was a complete exit by Russia but said there were “indications and rumours to that effect”.

Charles Lister, of the Middle East Institute think tank, said withdrawal from Syria would be a “massive loss” for Moscow and would have ramifications for Russia’s operations in Africa.

Moscow, as a key ally to the Assad regime, also brought wheat from Russia through a complex arrangement designed to evade Western sanctions imposed on both countries.

A Russian source close to the government said supplies to Syria had been suspended because exporters are concerned by uncertainty over who will manage wheat imports on the Syrian side following the change of power in Damascus.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity owing to the sensitivity of the situation, told Reuters: “I think no one would dare supply wheat to Syria under the current circumstances.”

Ukraine, which provides wheat to a number of other Middle Eastern countries, immediately offered to step in and provide grain to Syria where necessary.

Vitaliy Koval, Ukraine’s agricultural minister, said: “Where it is difficult, we have to be there with our food. We are open to supplying our food and if Syria needs food, then we are there.”

It comes after Ukraine reportedly supplied drones and their operators to HTS before their advance on Damascus. Ukraine said that it is willing to target Russian military bases and operations across the world.

Putin was said to have been shocked by the sudden collapse of dictator Assad’s regime.

Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, admitted Russia had been “surprised”, like the “whole world”.

In Syria, tens of thousands of people took to the streets, after Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the rebel leader, called on people to celebrate “the victory of the blessed revolution” but to avoid firing guns.

In Damascus, thousands gathered outside the Umayyad Mosque, a sight unimaginable just days ago, for the first Friday prayers since the collapse of the Assad regime.

Russian agents persuaded Assad to flee Damascus on Sunday morning in a private jet when it was clear that the rebels would capture the capital.

More than a dozen people with knowledge of Assad’s final hours in Damascus told Reuters that he had fled without even telling his younger brother, commander of an elite tank unit, or other allies because he feared that he would be betrayed.

They described how Assad had lied to his army commanders, telling them to make a stand and wait for Russian back-up, which he knew was not coming.

Nadim Houri, the executive director of the Arab Reform Initiative regional think tank, said: “Assad didn’t even make a last stand. He didn’t even rally his own troops.”

From Damascus, Assad flew to the Khmeimim air base and then to Moscow, where his wife and three children were waiting for him.

Sources added that this was Assad’s second trip to Moscow in less than a fortnight.

Panicked by the speed and success of the HTS advance, they said that Assad had secretly travelled to Moscow on Nov 28 to beg for Russian military intervention. Three regional diplomats said, though, that these pleas were rejected. The Kremlin has not commented.

03:21 PM GMT

Thanks for following our live coverage. That’s all for today.

Here’s a round-up of the biggest stories:

• Jubilant Syrians take to the streets after rebel leader calls for celebration of revolution

• EU looking to make contact with new Syrian leadership ‘soon’

• Celebrate our victory but don’t fire guns, rebel leader tells Syrians

• UN: Syrian new regime sending ‘constructive’ signals

• Israeli troops to remain in Syria over winter

• Emergency meeting held on Syria’s chemical weapons

• ‘If the West acted faster, Assad would have been gone’, says Wes Streeting

• Former head of Syrian prison charged with torture in US

03:13 PM GMT

Druze in Syria say they want to be part of Israel as they fear new ‘Isis-like’ rulers

The residents of a Druze community in southern Syria have expressed a desire be part of Israel to prevent a possible assault on the minority by radical Islamists.

A video circulating on social media shows a gathering of Druze in the Syrian village of Hader which is located inside the buffer zone separating Israel from Syria, now fully controlled by the IDF.

“If we have to choose, we will choose the lesser evil. And even if it’s considered evil to ask to be annexed to the (Israeli) Golan, it’s a much lesser evil than the evil coming our way,” a man says to a crowd of people in Arabic, according to a translation by Times of Israel.

The unnamed man told the public assembly that the “evil” coming their way “might take our women, might take our daughters, they might take our houses.”

“Bashar al-Assad left. What do we have left? Nothing. We asked to be annexed to the Golan to preserve our dignity,” he continued.

Some 700,000 Druze live in Syria while about 20,000 Druze live in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights adjacent to the city of Hader where the calls to join Israel were made. Another roughly 150,000 Druze live inside Israel.

03:07 PM GMT

Jubilant Syrians take to the streets after rebel leader calls for celebration of revolution

Tens of thousands of Syrians have taken to the streets across the country, heeding the call of their new rebel leader to celebrate “the victory of the blessed revolution”.

Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, who led the rebel coalition that seized power, called on Syrians earlier on Friday “to go to the streets to express their joy”, but to avoid shooting guns.

In Damascus, thousands gathered outside the Umayyad Mosque - a sight unimaginable just days ago - for the first Friday prayers since the ousting of Bashar al-Assad.

In Aleppo, Hama and Homs - all cities taken by the rebel coalition forces in quick succession during their 12-day offensive - residents cheered, cried and danced freely on the streets.

Exhilarated crowds chanted “one, one, one, the Syrian people is one!” and waved the three-star Syrian independence flag, which no one dared raise during Assad’s brutal rule.

“We are gathering because we’re happy Syria has been freed, we’re happy to have been liberated from the prison in which we lived,” Nour Thi al-Ghina, 38, from Damascus, said.

03:02 PM GMT

EU looking to make contact with new Syrian leadership ‘soon’

The EU is seeking to establish diplomatic contact “soon” with Syria’s new rebel rulers, a high-ranking EU official said Friday.

“What we are now thinking is to establish contacts, to pass messages about our expectations,” the official told AFP, adding that the outreach would be at “working level”.

03:01 PM GMT

Pictured: Russian military convoy on the road from Damascus

02:33 PM GMT

Listen: Inside Homs with Syria’s White Helmets

In our most recent podcast episode of Battle Lines, Farouq Habib from Syria’s White Helmets speaks about returning to his home city of Homs for the first time in over a decade.

He tells us about the devastation Bashar al-Assad wreaked across Syria, and how the country can heal now that the regime has fallen.

Plus: The Telegraph’s senior foreign correspondent Sophia Yan has been on the Turkish-Syrian border. She’s been speaking to refugees excited to finally be able to go back, but also to Turkish Alawites who continue to have an affinity for Assad.

Listen here.

02:01 PM GMT

Austria offers Syrian refugees €1,000 to go home

Austria’s government said on Friday it is offering Syrian refugees a “return bonus” of €1,000 to move back to their home country after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

Karl Nehammer, the conservative Chancellor, reacted quickly to Assad’s overthrow on Sunday, saying the same day that the security situation in Syria should be reassessed so as to allow deportations of Syrian refugees.

Austria’s government, under pressure from the hard-Right, has said it will focus on voluntary deportations. It has also stopped processing Syrians’ asylum applications, as have more than a dozen European countries.

Syrians are the biggest group of asylum-seekers in Austria.

01:48 PM GMT

Watch: Celebrations in the cities of Suwayda and Hama

Celebrations in Suwayda City square after liberation from the Assad regime | Credit: Suvwayda24/X

Celebrations in Hama City square after liberation from the Assad regime | Credit: Levant_24_/X

01:39 PM GMT

In pictures: Mass celebrations across Syria

01:22 PM GMT

Celebrate our victory but don’t fire guns, rebel leader tells Syrians

The leader of the rebel coalition that seized power in Syria last week has called on Syrians to take to the streets to celebrate “the victory of the revolution” but not to fire guns.

“I would like to congratulate the great Syrian people on the victory of the blessed revolution,” said Abu Mohammed al-Jolani in a video message on Friday, appearing in a white shirt and vest, a notable departure from his usual military fatigues.

“I call on them to go to the streets to express their joy without firing bullets and scaring people,” he added, just days after he told his fighters that the new Islamist regime would not accept the “chaos of guns appearing on our streets”.

His warning came after a man, who was celebrating with thousands on the streets of Raqqa on Thursday, reportedly lost control of his machine gun and mistakenly opened fire on a crowd.

The gunfire sparked skirmishes between young men and local rebels linked to US-backed Kurdish forces. At least one person was killed and 15 wounded, witnesses said.

12:56 PM GMT

UN: Syrian new regime sending ‘constructive’ signals

Syria’s new interim authorities have asked the United Nations refugee agency to remain in the country following the ousting of president Bashar al-Assad, sending a “constructive” signal, the organisation said Friday.

The agency said they had had “some contact with the interim authorities”, Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, UNHCR’s representative in Syria, adding: “The initial signals that they are sending us are constructive”.

“The needs are absolutely huge,” he said.

12:28 PM GMT

What is captagon, the drug that earnt Assad billions?

The collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian regime has thrown light into the dark corners of his rule, including the industrial-scale export of the banned drug captagon.

The rebel fighters have seized military bases and distribution hubs for the amphetamine-type stimulant often known as “poor man’s cocaine” - which has flooded the black market across the Middle East. The new regime has vowed to destroy all that they find.

Captagon turned Syria into the world’s largest narco state. It became by far Syria’s biggest export, dwarfing all its legal exports put together, according to estimates.

Experts believe that Assad used the threat of drug-fuelled unrest to put pressure on Arab governments.

12:11 PM GMT

Watch: Syria’s interim PM al-Bashir arrives at Umayyad Mosque

12:09 PM GMT

EU announce ‘air bridge’ to deliver Syria aid via Turkey

The European Commission on Friday announced the launch of an “air bridge” operation to deliver an initial 50 tonnes of health supplies to Syria via neighbouring Turkey.

The items from EU stockpiles in Dubai will be flown to Adana, Turkey for distribution in Syria “in the coming days,” a commission statement said.

A further 46 tonnes of relief supplies will be trucked from a stockpile in Denmark.

11:28 AM GMT

In pictures: Syrians celebrate first Friday prayers since Assad’s fall

Thousands of Syrians converged at the landmark Umayyad Mosque in Damascus ahead of Friday prayers, where Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the leader of the rebels forces, is expected.

Men, women and children flocked to the mosque, an unusual sight in Damascus, with some raising the Syrian independence flag, used by the opposition since the 2011 uprising.

Some chanted: “One, one, one, the Syrian people is one”.

11:17 AM GMT

Bahrain king tells Syrian rebel leader ‘I’m ready to cooperate’

King Hamad told Syrian rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani that Bahrain is ready to cooperate with the new regime on Friday.

In a letter, the monarch said Bahrain, which is the current Arab summit president, was ready to “continue consultations and coordination with Syria”.

11:03 AM GMT

Killed Syrian activist Hamada: ‘Even it costs me my life I will pursue them’

10:45 AM GMT

Israeli troops to remain in Syria over winter

Israeli troops have been ordered to “prepare to remain” throughout the winter in a UN-patrolled buffer zone between Israeli and Syrian forces in the strategic Golan Heights.

“Due to the situation in Syria, it is of critical security importance to maintain our presence at the summit of Mount Hermon,” a spokesman for Israel Katz, Israel’s defence minister, said on Friday.

On Sunday, Israeli forces took control of the demilitarised zone and the Syrian side of Mount Hermon, which overlooks Damascus, in a move that the UN said violated its 1974 armistice with Syria.

Israel later confirmed its troops had moved to “additional points” beyond the buffer zone to protect its border, although it remains unclear how far into Syrian territory they have advanced.

Mr Katz said that Israel aims to impose a “sterile defence zone” in southern Syria that would be enforced without a permanent troop presence.

Antonio Guterres, UN chief, said he was “deeply concerned” on Thursday over “extensive violations” of Syrian sovereignty and by the hundreds of Israeli strikes on the country.

10:29 AM GMT

Pictured: Russian forces ‘preparing to evacuate’ northern Syria

10:16 AM GMT

Emergency meeting held on Syria’s chemical weapons

The US ambassador to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has said the fall of the Assad regime was a historic chance to rid Syria of chemical weapons “once and for all”.

The OPCW held a closed-door emergency meeting on Thursday to seek approval for funding and assistance to a chemical non-proliferation process in Syria.

The OPCW, established in 1997 under the Chemical Weapons Convention, requires its 193 member states to declare and dismantle their chemical weapons programs.

The Assad regime is accused of repeatedly using chemical weapons on civilians during the country’s protracted civil war.

09:49 AM GMT

Dispatch: ‘Hero’ who exposed Assad horrors tortured to death by regime in its final hours

Few could bear to look long at his face, with its sunken, sorrowful eyes so full of pain – but when Mazen al-Hamada spoke, you could not help but listen.

He spoke to audiences across the West, in lecture theatres and parliaments, bearing witness to the darkness of the Assad regime in low, urgent tones.

Sometimes, he showed them his wrists, scarred by the chains from which he hung until he lost consciousness. He would speak of the beatings and the rapes he and others suffered, his haunted eyes reddening at the memory.

On Thursday, they laid Hamada to rest in central Damascus, the capital coming to a halt as its residents gathered to honour the man who became the embodiment of a nation’s suffering and who now had become as powerful a symbol in death as he was in life.

Hamada was one of the last casualties of the 13-year uprising against Bashar al-Assad, tortured to death by a vindictive regime in its death throes just hours before the advancing rebels flung open the doors of the infamous Sednaya prison where he was held.

Read the full dispatch here.

09:36 AM GMT

Streeting: ‘If the West acted faster, Assad would have been gone’

09:26 AM GMT

Blinken tells Turkey it is ‘imperative’ to work against Isis in Syria

Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, told Turkey it was “imperative” to work against a resurgence of the Isis in Syria following the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

“Our country worked very hard and gave a lot over many years to ensure the elimination of the territorial caliphate of Isis to ensure that that threat doesn’t rear its head again. And it’s imperative that we keep at those efforts.”

His remarks came after meeting Hakan Fidan, Turkye’s foreign minister, in Ankara on the second leg of his Syria crisis tour.

09:03 AM GMT

‘Take to the streets and celebrate the revolution’, says rebel leader

The leader of the Islamist rebels that seized power in Syria last week called on Syrians to take to the streets to celebrate “the victory of the revolution” on Friday.

“I would like to congratulate the great Syrian people on the victory of the blessed revolution and I call on them to go to the streets to express their joy,” said Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, now using his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa.

08:51 AM GMT

Turkey will never ‘allow weakness’ in fight against Isis in Syria

Turkey will never ease up in the fight against Islamic State in Syria, despite its operations against Kurdish fighters seen as key to containing the terrorists, Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Antony Blinken.

“Turkey will never allow any weakness to arise in the fight against Isis,” Mr Erdogan told the US secretary of state late Thursday.

Since the fall of the Assad regime, there have been ongoing fighting in Syria’s north between US-backed Kurdish forces and Turkey-backed rebels.

Washington and Ankara supported Syrian rebels during the 13-year civil war but clashed over one of the factions - the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The SDF is the main ally in a U.S. coalition against Isis terrorists. It is spearheaded by the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara sees as an extension of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants that it outlaws and who have fought the Turkish state for 40 years.

08:40 AM GMT

Watch: Israeli strikes inside Syria

08:35 AM GMT

In pictures: Families continue to search for answers inside Sednaya prison

08:16 AM GMT

107 documented deaths in Assad’s prisons in 2024

Since early 2024, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has documented the death of 107 civilians under torture and over poor healthcare in Assad regime prisons and security centres.

The dead including a political activist, a university student, a writer, an engineer, an Islamic thinker, a civilian with US nationality, two regime army defectors and a civilian from Tripoli.

07:55 AM GMT

China ‘deeply concerned’ about Syria

Beijing’s top diplomat Wang Yi told his Egyptian counterpart that China is “deeply concerned” about the situation in Syria.

“The two sides are deeply concerned about the current situation in Syria and call for respect for Syria’s sovereignty,” Wang said during a joint press conference in Beijing with Badr Abdelatty, Egypt’s foreign minister.

He urged the prevention of “terrorist and extremist forces from taking advantage of the chaos”.

07:49 AM GMT

Former head of Syrian prison charged with torture in US

The former head of a notorious Syrian prison was charged Thursday in the United States with torturing opponents of the now-collapsed regime of Bashar al-Assad.

Samir Ousman Alsheikh, 72, who has been in the US since 2020, ran Damascus Central Prison, known locally as Adra Prison, from 2005 to 2008 and is accused of torturing detainees.

“It’s a huge step toward justice,” said Mouaz Moustafa, executive director of the US-based Syrian Emergency Task Force. “Samir Ousman al-Sheikh’s trial will reiterate that the United States will not allow war criminals to come and live in the United States without accountability, even if their victims were not US citizens.”

The suspect was detained in July at LA International Airport on charges of immigration fraud, specifically that he denied on his US visa that he had ever persecuted anyone in Syria, according to a criminal complaint.

07:46 AM GMT

Hello and welcome to our live coverage

We’re bringing you all the latest updates from Syria in the wake of the fall of the Assad regime.