Transcript of Syria: Crowds take to the streets to celebrate the fall of Assad regime on 'Victory Day'

President Assad's rule over Syria only ended 5 days ago. But today, his country was unrecognizable as 100 of thousands of his former subjects took to the streets to celebrate his fall in what they called victory Friday. Syrians across the parts of the country held by the HTS led rebel forces gathered in city squares after the first Friday prayers since the former president's departure. In a moment, we'll hear from our chief correspondent, Stuart Ramsey, who witnessed the celebrations in the city of Homs and saw Russian forces in retreat. But first, our international affairs editor, John Lyk Waghorn, has this report from Umayyad Square in Damascus.

They came in their thousands to 1 of Islam's most holy sites, the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, to worship together in freedom.

We are together. We are as a 1 person. You

are together.

We are as a 1 person. We are as a 1 person.

Sunni, Shia, Alawin, Christian

We are a 1 person. We are

In their uprising, Friday prayers were the focus of their resistance against Assad. As today's drew to a close, the roar was deafening. This is the sound of hope and liberation without fear of being killed by a regime. Now it's been toppled. Earlier, the leader of Syria's revolution had urged people to gather in Damascus.

I call on the people to head down to the square to express their victory without firing arms and causing panic. And after that, let's move on to build this country.

The crowds built up all day. They came to capture the moment. Many could not contain their euphoria.

I see in their face smiling, happy inside

their half. Heart.

It's unbelievable. You cannot believe like that because this moment, we wait until 15 years. We wait this moment. All the people, they wait so much and at last, it's come. It's come.

We are free.

Abdulrahman has lived all his life under the tyranny of the Assad family. His words and actions controlled by the regime. Not anymore.

We can say things we have never,

dreamt of saying before. We can do things. Never thought of, cursing, the ruler

and cursing Assad.

How does that feel for you?

It feels great. What's a good time to be alive? You know?

We are we are all in 1 wedding.

It feels like a wedding for everybody.

Yes. It's like wedding.

Like Ruba, they can now dream of a better future. And what do you want to do in the free Syria with your life?

To develop our country. To develop our country. To raise it in 1 hand to, develop it and be and become like other countries, like Britannia, for example.

For 50 years, this has been forbidden

spontaneously gathering on the streets, totally banned by the government without its permission. Well, there's no stopping them now.

There are huge challenges ahead, uncertainty about their new leaders and future. But whatever it brings, so many here tell you, it can never be as bad as what they've been through. Dominic Waghorn, Sky News, Damascus.

This is really quite extraordinary. On the road near Homs, an enormous convoy of Russian military vehicles heading northwest towards a Russian military base on Syria's Mediterranean coast. The convoy was unimpeded. The Russian flags clearly visible on trucks, trailers, and armored vehicles. A witness told Sky News a series of convoys were made up of over a 1000 vehicles.

In this convoy, armored fighting vehicles and troop carriers are clearly visible. These pictures suggest the Russians are withdrawing from bases near cities like Homs. And here, they were already celebrating in huge numbers the end of the Assad regime. This would be the icing on the cake. Whatever else may happen in Syria, there was a determination here that this was to be a day of celebration.

In clock square, where some of the first spontaneous demonstrations against Bashar al Assad began in 2,011, the numbers were absolutely massive. The crowds were overseen by revolutionary fighters on rooftops, and no guns were allowed into the square. This, they said, was Homs' Freedom Day, a sentiment shared by all ages and all sexes.

How are you feeling today?

Oh my god. It's I can't even

describe this thing that's going on right now. It's a massive, huge happiness. We're all experiencing. We're all experiencing this together. We haven't felt this way in a

No. No.

No. No.

Life right now. You know?

Tell me how you feel today.

Okay. Very cool. Very cool and happy because we

There's obviously considerable uncertainty about what the future holds for Syria, but this is an incredibly momentous day. And although there are concerns, this really is a day of celebration.

The Omar bin Al Khattab mosque was packed to the rafters from way before prayers. Sheik Mahmoud Dalati was the spiritual leader of the uprising in Homs. He's returned from exile to deliver a sermon calling for unity, law and order, and no retribution. Use the courts, he said. Clerics carry a lot of weight here, but they can't guarantee anything.

Syria may have fundamentally changed, but nobody knows the direction it will go. Stuart Ramsey Ska News, Holmes.