Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was forced to escape flee his country under extreme secrecy following tumultuous disturbances that shook his regime, culminating in the fall of the capital Damascus into the hands of armed Syrian factions.
The ousting of Bashar al-Assad from power marks the end of a very difficult chapter in Syria’s modern history.
However, his crimes against humanity, have led to questions about his new life in Russia after it officially announced granting him political asylum.
A new life in an allied country
After becoming convinced of the victory of the Syrian factions, it seems that Assad’s escape to Russia was carefully planned and premeditated,
According to a report published by the British newspaper “The Daily Mail”, Bashar al-Assad managed to smuggle his wealth of two billion dollars to Russia in the form of real estate, bank accounts, company shares, and gold reserves, to ensure a luxurious lifestyle for him and his family in their exile in Moscow.
After residing in presidential palaces in Russia for 24 years, residential apartments he purchased in Russia – numbering at least 20 in the capital with a value exceeding $30 million – have now surfaced as a safe haven, reflecting the extent of his reliance on the longstanding friendship with President Vladimir Putin.
Is Bashar entitled to asylum in Russia?
The real estate assets that Assad owns in Russia provided his family with protection and safety.
Following the outbreak of armed clashes between the Syrian armed factions and the regular army forces, his three sons left with his wife Asmaa al-Assad, who holds British citizenship, to Moscow.
That happened days before her husband left Damascus to join his family under the umbrella of political asylum provided to him by Russia in light of its position on the opposition.
Bashar also was pressured by the war by forces supported by Turkey.
Therefore, Russia saw it necessary to protect and defend him without disclosing his location.
An escape plan
Trackers showed the day the ousted Syrian president left a Russian plane that took off from a place near the northeastern Syrian city of Latakia a few hours before the official announcement of his presence in Moscow.
The Daily Mail report concluded that he may have left his country via the “Hmeimimim” Russian air base.
After the fall of the capital Damascus without resistance from Assad’s army, armed factions discovered last Sunday secret underground tunnels connecting the presidential palaces as a road network to provide him and his family with protection in case they had to escape at any time.
A new homeland
In 2012, the non-profit media organization “Wikileaks” revealed a private correspondence from the First Lady of Syria, showing her spending $350,000 on furniture and another $7,000 on crystal-studded shoes.
To keep the family’s money out of Syria following the outbreak of protests in the country in 2011, they purchased several luxury apartments in the City of Capitals complex, located in Moscow’s glittering skyscraper district, which houses a number of Russia’s wealthiest businessmen and government officials.
It is likely that this area will become the home of the Assad family, especially since their eldest son is a candidate for a doctorate at Moscow State University in the field of physical and mathematical sciences.
