DAMASCUS, January 28. /TASS/. A Russian delegation led by Mikhail Bogdanov, special presidential envoy for the Middle East and Africa and deputy foreign minister, and Alexander Lavrentyev, special presidential envoy for Syria, has arrived on a visit to Damascus.
This is the first visit to Damascus by Russian officials since December 2024, when Bashar Assad stepped down as Syrian president and left the country.
In late November 2024, Syria’s armed opposition units started a large-scale offensive on government troops in the Aleppo and Idlib governorates. By the evening of December 7, they seized several large cities, including Aleppo, Hama, Deir ez-Zor, Daraa, and Homs. On December 8, they entered Damascus. Bashar Assad stepped down as Syrian president and left the country.
On December 10, Mohammed al-Bashir, who had led the so-called Syrian Salvation Government in the Idlib Province since January 2024, announced his appointment as head of Syria’s interim government. The interim period is expected to last until March 1, 2025. Head of the Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham group (outlawed in Russia) Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, became the country’s actual leader.