Assad to flee Syria with Moscow having become convinced that he would lose against the insurgents rapidly advancing on Damascus, sources have said. Moscow offered Mr Assad a safe exit if he left the country immediately as the rebel forces led by former al-Qaeda offshoot Hayat Tahir al-Sham (HTS) approached,

Defence Studies Centre senior fellow Matthew Sussex says the demise of the Assad regime in Syria represents a “significant blow” to Moscow and Vladimir Putin.

Jawlani has moved to form a transitional government, get the buses running and turn the power back on.

Rapturous celebrations in the streets of the capital were tempered by trepidation over whether the city’s new rebel caretakers could deliver a better future.

For many Damascenes, the dominant feelings are a mix of joy and trepidation. “We’re happy, of course, but we’re afraid of what’s coming,” said Muna Maidani, a 28-year-old who was walking near Umayyad Square — one of the Syrian capital’s most famous landmarks — with her two children.