Kremlin: Assad is in Moscow with his family. Putin grants him political asylum

Deposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is in Moscow, Russian state media reported.

Bashar al-Assad and his family have arrived in Moscow and Russia has granted them political asylum, Russian state media agencies report, citing Kremlin sources.

The Syrian government fell early this morning, in a stunning end to the Assad family's 50-year rule, after a sudden rebel offensive that erupted in government-held territory and entered the capital after just 10 days.

Syrian state television broadcast a video statement from a group of men who said that "President Bashar Assad has been overthrown and all prisoners in prisons have been released."

The man who read the statement said that the Operations Room to Conquer Damascus, an opposition group, called on all opposition fighters and citizens to preserve the state institutions of the "free Syrian state."

The statement came hours after the head of a Syrian opposition war monitor said that "Assad had fled the country to an unknown location, fleeing rebels who said they had entered Damascus after making extremely rapid advances across the country."

Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali said the government was ready to "extend a hand" to the opposition and hand over its functions to a transitional government.

"I am in my home and I have not left, and this is because of my belonging to this country," 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 damage public property.

As day dawned over Damascus, crowds gathered to pray in the city's mosques and celebrate in the squares, chanting "God is great."

People also chanted slogans against Assad and honked car horns.

Festive gunfire was heard in some areas.

It was the first time opposition forces had reached Damascus since 2018, when Syrian troops recaptured areas on the outskirts of the capital after a years-long siege.

The offensive began on November 27, during which gunmen captured the northern city of Aleppo, Syria's largest, and the central city of Hama, the country's fourth largest city.

The Syrian government has referred to opposition fighters as terrorists since the outbreak of the conflict in March 2011.

Qatar's top diplomat, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, criticized Assad for failing to take advantage of the lull in fighting in recent years to address the country's underlying problems.

"Assad did not seize this opportunity to begin engaging and restoring his relations with his people," he said.