Decoys And Deception: Assad’s Stealth Escape From Damascus Via Private Jet

The story of how deposed Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad escaped from Syria first via private jet and then via Russian military transport is eye-opening not only for the stealth manner in which it was done, but for what…and who…was left behind.

Assad Escapes Syria Using Decoys, Private Jet, And Russian Military

It was widely reported on December 7, 2024 that a Syrian Air  Ilyushin Il-76 transport plane had gone down over Homs, based on transponder data obtained by FlightRadar24. Hours later, news reports began to circulate that Assad was onboard and died in the accident.

Turns out there probably was no crash and Assad was not on the Soviet-era, Russian-made cargo jet. Instead, it was a decoy with the transponder manipulated. Think about it, the most wanted man in Syria boarding a Syrian Air jet with the transponder on? That’s doubtful.

Instead, it appears that Assad met with his military leaders and cabinets, urged them to fight, and promised that reinforcements were coming, but then, under cover of darkness, boarded his private jet and flew to Russia’s Tartus Naval Base on the Mediterranean Sea in northwest Syria (Assad owns an Embraer Legacy 600, restiration code C5-SKY). From there, he was transported to Russia via a Russian military jet.

His wife Asama and children were already waiting in Moscow, where the entire family had been granted political asylum, but Assad never let his brother know…he had to escape himself via Iraq. He never let his maternal cousins know. They were gunned down while trying to escape via the Lebanese border.

When Assad’s opulent residence was raided by rebel forces,  there was still food on the stove and family photographs left behind…he had clearly left in haste after Russia guaranteed him safe passage and warned him that he had very little time left to evacuate as rebels rapidly approached Damasus.

Talk about deception.

Assad is in Russia now–at an undisclosed location–and will now live out his days in exile (although I do recommend he avoid upper-floor windows or domestic flights).

His escape from Syria involved his private jet, a vintage Syrian Air IL-76 as a decoy, and Russian military aircraft. Quite a feat, indeed…

> Read More: “Accidental” Plane Crash Apparently Kills Yevgeny Prigozhin

Finally, let me say (as I said yesterday) that Assad was no saint…but sometimes the enemy you know is better than the enemy you don’t know. Assad appeared to be a run-of-the-mill charlatan, who enriched himself at the expense of his people, ruled through fear and graft, and proved a puppet of greater powers like Iran and Russia, who spit him out when they no longer found him useful. As much as it is fun to wonder whether Syrian Air will start operating to Europe again, the power vacuum that now exists makes Syria one of the most volatile places on Earth.