The possible whereabouts of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began to emerge Sunday after he abruptly resigned and fled Damascus as rebel forces stormed the capital and declared victory over the man they described as a "tyrant."
The 59-year-old Assad boarded a plane in Damascus on Sunday morning and flew to an unknown destination as the rebels overthrew the government and seized power, ending Assad's iron-fisted 24-year reign.
Russian state media reported Sunday that Assad and his family are now in Moscow, but there has been no official confirmation from the Kremlin that it had reportedly offered Assad refuge.
"Assad and his family members arrived in Moscow," Russia's TASS news agency reported, citing an unnamed Kremlin source who told TASS the Kremlin has provided Assad and his family asylum.
In a speech from the White House on Sunday afternoon, President Joe Biden said, "Rebel forces have forced Assad to resign his office and flee the country."
"We're not sure where he is, but there's word he's in Moscow," Biden said.
When answering a reporter's question about what should happen to Assad, Biden paused before leaving the Roosevelt Room, responding, "Assad should be held accountable."
In his address, Biden said the Assad regime had "brutalized and tortured and killed literally hundreds of thousands of innocent Syrians" during the country's 13-year civil war.
Assad's hasty departure from Damascus caught his close advisers off guard.
Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali said during an interview with a Saudi news channel on Sunday that while he has spoken with Assad since Saturday, he claimed he did not know his location.