Watch: Rebel flag raised over Syrian embassy in Russia

A group of men raised the

Syrian opposition flag

at the Syrian embassy in Moscow on Monday morning. Standing on the balcony of the embassy, the men sang and clapped as they hoisted the green, red, black, and white flag amidst falling snow.
The three-starred flag of the Syrian rebel groups has been installed over the Syrian embassy building in Moscow, some videos on social media show.

"Today the embassy opened and is working normally under a new flag." an embassy representative told the TASS state news agency,
Russia had been a key ally of Syria's ousted president,

Bashar al-Assad

.
Some Russian news agencies reported on Sunday that Assad and his family were in Moscow. This came hours after he fled Syria as Islamist-led rebels entered Damascus.