Abstract. In 2024, there was a sudden and critical escalation of the Syrian crisis for many observers, which led to the collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime. The president of the Syrian Arab Republic (SAR), who ruled the country for more than two decades, was forced to leave Damascus and seek refuge in Russia. The territory that was previously under the control of the SAR government has almost completely passed into the hands of the banned Islamist group Hayat Tahrir alSham, which has established its authority over 60% of the country’s territory. These events were the result of a deep internal crisis – economic, political and military, as well as the changed positions of external players.