Ammon News - By Al Arabiya With Agencies

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is losing control over Syria and the opposition victory “cannot be ruled out,” Russian deputy foreign minister said on Thursday, the state-run Itar-Tass news agency reported.

Thursday’s remarks by Mikhail Bogdanov are the first acknowledgement by a Russian official that the Syrian strongman could lose a bloody civil war.

The Kremlin’s special envoy for Middle East affairs added that Russia is working on plans to evacuate its citizens from the embattled country if necessary.

Russia has shielded Assad from international sanctions and continued to provide it with weapons.

While Bogdanov didn’t signal Moscow’s readiness to edge closer to the West and approve sanctions against Assad’s regime, the statement appears to reflect that Moscow has begun positioning itself for his imminent defeat.