Putin says that the ousting of Assad isn’t a defeat for Russia.

President Putin has criticized those who say that the overthrow of the former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is a major defeat for Russia, saying that it is a lie and a deception, because it had left Syria about 10 years ago.

President Putin repeated this on December 19, 2024, in the process of answering important questions about the year of his administration.

Asked why Assad was assassinated and he was his close friend, President Putin accused journalists of being paid to help those who spread false information about Russia.

He said that many people were paid to show that the overthrow of the regime of Bashar al Assad in Syria, is a failure of Russia and especially that they were friends but he said that this was not true.

He said that ten years had passed since Russia left Syria to fight the armed groups that wanted to control this Middle Eastern country, as has happened in other countries, giving the example of Afghanistan.

He said, “You see, we had already completed our plan. When the groups opposed to Assad, he changed his mind and it was done inside the country.

The President of Russia said that everything that happened in Syria until Assad was overthrown was the involvement of the countries of the West (he pointed out the United States of America as an example) because they want to unite with Russia.

The Assad regime’s campaign has its roots in the 2011 civil war in Syria that began as protests by people who said they were fed up with the Assad regime.

This war took another step when it was mixed with other countries, the United States and European countries supporting those who opposed Assad, Russia and Iran also sided with this man.

With the help of Russia and Iran, Assad managed to fight these groups and took control of at least 70% of the entire surface of Syria.

However, in recent days, these groups have stopped fighting, mainly due to the fact that the parties that supported Assad have other fights they are busy with.

As Russia is increasingly focused on its war with Ukraine, while Iran and Hezbollah are fighting Israel, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebels are trying to overthrow Assad.

President Putin told critics that the ousting of the Assad regime was a failure for his country, and that Russia had withdrawn from Syria 10 years ago.