Syrian embassy in Russia raises three-starred flag of the rebels

Syria's embassy in Moscow has raised the three-starred flag of the Syrian opposition, signalling the transition of power in the capital of Bashar al-Assad's ally.

Pictures of the flag being replaced by diplomats in the Moscow embassy came the same day as state media reported the former Syrian ruler had been granted asylum in Russia.

Men clapped and sang as the new flag was raised under falling snow in the Russian capital.

"Today the embassy opened and is working normally under a new flag," an embassy representative told TASS state news agency.

Russia had been heavily supportive of the Assad government and its 2015 intervention in the Syrian war was thought to have decisively turned the civil war in Assad's favour after years losing ground.

Assad fled Damascus on Sunday in the wake of a rebel advance led by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham.

"Assad and members of his family have arrived in Moscow," a Kremlin source told the TASS and Ria Novosti news agencies.

"Russia granted them asylum on humanitarian grounds."

There are Russian bases in Syria, which made the country a key ally for Moscow in the region.

However, Russia was either unable or unwilling to stymie a lightning takeover of major Syrian cities including Hama, Aleppo and Homs over the past week, which ended with the toppling of Assad's government.

The Russian presidency was unwilling on Monday to confirm Assad's presence in the country, or whether there were any plans for a meeting between Assad and Putin.

"I have nothing to tell you about the comings and goings of President Assad," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov assured the press, specifying that "there is no meeting in the official agenda of the Russian president".