Bashar al-Assad, the toppled Syrian president, is reportedly in Moscow with his family after being granted asylum by the Russian government, according to Russian state media outlet TASS.

Citing a source within the Kremlin, TASS reported that Assad and his family have been granted refuge in the Russian capital following his abrupt departure from Syria. 

The Interfax news agency also quoted an unnamed source as saying that "President Assad of Syria has arrived in Moscow. Russia has granted him and his family asylum on humanitarian grounds.”

Russia, a staunch ally of Assad throughout Syria’s protracted civil war, confirmed his departure from Syria but initially declined to disclose his destination or whether Moscow would offer him asylum.