There are countless videos on social networks from many parts of Syria where people celebrate the overthrow of dictator Bashar al-Assad, including in the presidential palace in Damascus.
Assad left the country and at first it was not known where he was, but on Sunday evening, the Russian media, citing sources from the Kremlin, reported that he and his family had arrived in Moscow.
Meanwhile, the question is what will happen next in Syria. The Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) alliance released its first statement on Sunday morning: "To the displaced people of the world: a free Syria awaits you."
Online footage showed the release of prisoners from many of the regime's prisons, including the notorious Saidnaya prison north of Damascus, where thousands of regime opponents were tortured and killed.
Moderate Islamists?
The question, however, is how free Syria will actually be. All eyes are primarily on the leader of the Islamist militia HTS, Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, who now largely controls the country.
How does he envision the future of Syria? There are different opinions about it. HTS has gone through a long development, Andre Bank, an expert on Syria from the German Institute for Global and Regional Studies (GIGA) in Hamburg, explained to DW a few days ago.
Jolani distanced himself from Al-Qaeda many years ago, and is considered an opponent of the jihadist organization "Islamic State". This should mean that he is not on a mission against the West, but that he is concentrating on Syria. It is possible that he is now working to create a kind of "Salafist order".
Meanwhile, El Jolani himself is showing signs of moderation. During the offensive on Aleppo, he called for Christians and minorities to be spared.
In an interview with the American CNN, he explained that he wants to build state institutions that should include all social groups in the country. The fact that so far there has been no violence against minorities is a "sign of hope", Syria expert James Dorsey from the Washington Middle East Institute assesses for DW.
The former German ambassador in Damascus, Andreas Rajnike, is more skeptical. HTS remains rooted in the ideology of Al-Qaeda and because of this, the future of the Christian and Kurdish minorities in Syria is threatened, Rajnike told the Catholic News Agency (KNA).
The role of the Syrian National Army
In addition to HTS, other groups also have influence in Syria. The Syrian National Army (SNA) is fighting alongside HTS. It emerged from the Free Syrian Army (FSA), a militia group that fought against Assad after the uprising began in 2011. She is considered to be very close to Turkey.
The SNA has been repeatedly accused of crimes against humanity. She allegedly tortured the Kurds on several occasions. At the same time, within that group there are mechanisms that aim to prevent such crimes, Syria expert Omer Ozkizilchik from the Atlantic Council think tank told Middle East Eye magazine.
Now everything depends on which forces within the SNA will prevail and what kind of relationship they will establish with HTS, which they consider competition.
But militias opposing Assad from the south of the country also play a role. The only thing that connects them with HTS is opposition to the deposed dictator; However, ideologically speaking, these predominantly secular groups differ significantly from the Islamists.
And in the north, the Kurds will try to position themselves against the SNA and Turkey, which is behind that group. That conflict also carries significant potential for violence.
Russia, Iran, Turkey: the role of foreign actors
The behavior of international actors is also very important for the future of Syria. Turkey is likely to gain significant influence. It is a potentially decisive factor in Syria, assesses James Dorsey.
Turkey could rely on an Islamist-influenced government, but the challenges for Ankara are a possible conflict with the Kurds and HTS's decentralization efforts.
The big loser of the coup is Iran, which fought alongside Assad against the rebels for years and contributed significantly to his victory.
This allowed Tehran to establish itself militarily in Syria, which was an ideal opportunity for the regime in Tehran to get closer to Israel while supplying weapons to its affiliate Hezbollah, which is also oriented against Israel. Both Iran and Hezbollah have withdrawn from Syria in recent days.
The fall of the Assad regime will also likely have consequences for Iran's credibility within the so-called "axis of resistance", Markus Schneider, head of the "Peace and Security in the Middle East and North Africa" project of the German Friedrich Ebert Foundation, told DW a few days ago.
"That's why a defeat in Syria for Tehran would be comparable to a defeat in Afghanistan for the Soviets. It could also be the announcement of the end of the Islamist regime in Tehran itself," said Schneider.
The uprising also affected Russia, which since 2015 has supported the Assad regime in the fight against the rebels. In return, the Kremlin secured for itself a naval base near Tartus and an air base at Khmeimim near Latakia on the Mediterranean coast. He should now defend it under all circumstances. There could also be significant violence.
Bonus video:
