Syria’s Bashar al-Assad said on Monday he was evacuated to Russia from the Hmeimim base in Syria on the evening of December 8 as it came under drone attacks, after leaving Damascus that morning with opposition fighters closing in.

The comment, in a statement that was published on the Syrian presidency’s Telegram channel and dated December 16 from Moscow, was Assad’s first in public since he was toppled more than a week ago by a rebel offensive.