Reuters: An hour before his escape, Assad assured officers Russia would help

An hour before his escape, former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gathered his military officers and assured them that Russia would help, Reuters writes.

Hours before he escaped, Assad assured a meeting of about 30 army and security chiefs at the defense ministry on Saturday that Russian military support was on its way and urged ground forces to hold out, according to a commander who was present.

“Assad told his presidential office manager on Saturday when he finished work he was going home but instead headed to the airport. He also called his media adviser, Buthaina Shaaban, and asked her to come to his home to write him a speech. She arrived to find no one was there,” a Reuters source said.