The anniversary Monday of Assad's ouster by opposition fighters was preceded by days of celebration beforehand with fireworks and drivers waving flags and honking horns in celebration late into the night.

At the main mosque in the Midan district of Damascus Monday, worshippers filed out from dawn prayers shortly after the moment celebrated as the exact time Assad lifted off from Damascus under Russian protection on Dec. 8, 2024. He and his wife Asma remain in exile in Russia.