Putin lost an ally in Assad last week (Image: Getty)
Russian newspapers have admitted that and suffered a “major defeat” in Syria after dictator was removed from power.
Syrian rebels took the country in a matter of days last week, finally reaching the capital Damascus last weekend.
Assad has now been granted asylum in Moscow having received a great deal of support from during the Syrian civil war.
Many experts in the West have said that , and even the state-controlled Russian media is coming to the same conclusion.
As reported by the ‘s Editor, , the Russian tabloid Arguments and Facts reported that “Damascus’ friendship with Moscow has been exaggerated.”
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Syrian rebels took control of Damascus last week (Image: Getty)
Meanwhile, a political scientist told Nezavisimiya Gazeta, a Russian daily newspaper that “we need to say it straight, and Iran suffered a major defeat in Syria.”
They added: “Turkey, on the other hand, scored a big victory.”
On Tuesday, : “The whole system of ‘s presence in the Middle East, constructed over the last ten years and into which very considerable resources have been invested has, in the blink of an eye, turned into a bygone political age.
“This is a lamentable, upsetting, agonizing fact that cannot be denied or understated.”
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Assad has been granted asylum in Moscow (Image: Getty)
and Iran-backed Hezbollah played a vital role in pushing back anti-government forces in Syria during the civil war.
The Kremlin confirmed this week that Putin personally gave approval for Assad to be granted asylum.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “Such decisions certainly cannot be made without the head of state. It was his decision.”
On the day that Assad arrived in Moscow, a Kremlin source told TASS news agency: “Assad and members of his family have arrived in Moscow,” a source told the Tass news agency.
They added granted them asylum on humanitarian grounds.