Russia helped Assad to escape from Syria under guise of disinformation about plane crash - DIU
The Russians helped Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad escape from the country, covering it up by spreading disinformation about the alleged crash of the plane carrying him.
This was reported by the Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Censor.NET reports.
The intelligence noted that Assad's escape from Damascus was accompanied by news of the disappearance of the signal of an Il-76T aircraft with the Syrian dictator on board from monitoring radars, which was allegedly caused by a downing or plane crash.
However, according to the DIU, Russia used this disinformation to cover up its operation to rescue the Syrian leader and a limited number of people close to him.
"The loss of Assad's plane's signal from the radar is probably due to the actions of the crew, which followed the instructions of the Russians and flew under their direction," the Ukrainian intelligence service said.
The DIU also states that the situation of the Russian contingent in Syria is consistently difficult and dire. The remnants of the aggressor state's grouping continue to hastily pack up and leave by sea and air.
According to intelligence, the first to leave Syria were the "bigwigs" of the Russian army. In particular, the former and current commanders of the Russian troops in Syria, Sergei Kisel and Alexander Chaiko.
"To remove the remnants of their weapons, equipment and personnel, the Russians engaged additional ships, in particular from the Baltic fleet of the aggressor state," the DIU added.
As a reminder, on November 28, after four years of relative calm, fighting between Bashar al-Assad's forces and opposition groups resumed with renewed vigor on the outskirts of Aleppo.
"Hayat Tahrir al-Sham announced a large-scale military operation against government forces. During the operation, they claimed to have captured over 400 square kilometers of territory, including strategically important areas.
November 29 Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which leads a coalition of opposition forces in Syria, enters Aleppo and clashes with government forces on the western outskirts of the city.
On November 30, the Syrian Armed Forces announced a "temporary withdrawal of troops" from Aleppo to prepare a counteroffensive against the opposition forces.
According to Al Arabia, rebels in Syria have taken control of Aleppo.
Newly elected US President Donald Trump said that the US should not interfere in the conflict in Syria.
Bloomberg wrote that as the rebels approached Damascus, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad decided to resort to indirect diplomatic appeals to the United States and President-elect Donald Trump to try to stay in power.
On December 8, it became known that the Syrian opposition had taken Damascus and announced Assad's escape.
