Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his family have arrived in Moscow after escaping from the Middle East country, and they have received asylum in Russia, the media reported, citing top officials.
A leading Russian media outlet citing a Kremlin source said that Assad and his family have been granted asylum by Russia for humanitarian reasons.
Russia, Syria's ally, has said that negotiations to broker a settlement of the situation in the Middle East country have to be resumed under 'overall guidance' from the United Nations.
Hours after rebel forces seized the capital city Damascus, Bashar al-Assad resigned as president of Syria and left the country.
According to the BBC, as early as Sunday morning, immediately after their fighters without any confrontation entered the city, an Islamist militant group known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its allies said that "the tyrant Bashar al-Assad has run away".
There have not been pictures of Assad in the public view since his meeting last week with Iran's Foreign Minister in Damascus. He had then promised to "crush" the rebels at a quickening pace to seize territory.
In a dramatic turn of events on Sunday, opposition forces in Syria took over the capital, Damascus, after a lightning-fast offensive that saw major Syrian cities fall like dominoes within days.
After seizing control, opposition fighters appeared on state television channels to declare what they called the fall of Damascus and the end of President Bashar al-Assad's rule.
A man clad in military fatigues and with armed fighters on either side read a statement on-air which he described as 'Statement No. 1'. He claimed that units of the rebels had captured the city of Damascus.
According to the Britain-based war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Xinhua news agency reported, the rebel fighters entered the capital city of Syria at dawn on Sunday.
The monitor said hundreds of government soldiers were ordered to leave Damascus International Airport and many were seen taking off military uniforms and putting on civil ones.
Al-Assad is said to have left the country, according to reports, citing rebel forces.
The Xinhua news agency reporters in Damascus witnessed how heavy gunshots reverberated through the streets since there was heavy traffic going out of the capital as cars departed.
Civilians protested in the streets, hoisting the 'revolution flag, an older flag used before the rule of Hafez al-Assad, father of Bashar al-Assad.
Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi Al-Jallali declared his willingness to support any leadership that the people of Syria may decide upon.
Opposition military commander Ahmed Al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammad Al-Julani, stated that Al-Jallali would maintain public institutions until an official transfer of power is made.
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