In the middle of Moscow's business district, two futuristic skyscrapers stretch towards the sky. Here, right next to the Moscow River, the "butcher from Damascus" is said to have taken refuge when his reign of terror in Syria fell last year.
Starting in 2013, the al-Assad family is said to have bought around 20 apartments in the towers, according to Franceinfo for a price of almost two million dollars each.
The entrance hall has a ceiling height of 20 meters, reports Die Zeit which has gained access to the building together with a real estate agent. The newspaper is shown an apartment similar to al-Assad's: crystal chandeliers, precious wood, bathrooms in Carrara marble and floor-to-ceiling windows.
The al-Assad family is doing well and enjoying the money they stole, says a source to Die Zeit, a man called "H" who is said to have previously been part of al-Assad's inner circle.
Moved money
Through his contacts within the army - officers who, like al-Assad, fled Syria - "H" has been told that the former dictator can move freely in Moscow, flanked by bodyguards financed by the Russian government. However, he seems to mostly stay indoors.
He lives in three apartments in a luxury high-rise (...) and spends hours playing online games. He is also often in his villa outside Moscow, says "H".
There is money, then. According to the Financial Times, the al-Assad family moved $250 million, over 2.3 billion Swedish kronor, to Russia between March 2018 and September 2019. Two tons of $100 and $500 bills are said to have been transported to Moscow with a total of 20 flights. The luxury apartments in the Russian capital were acquired through a complex structure of companies, credit institutions, and shell companies, according to the British newspaper.
Smoking and drinking
Also, the wife Asma al-Assad, who is said to be seriously ill with leukemia, and the couple's three children now live in Moscow. So does Bashar al-Assad's younger brother, Maher, who led the regime's feared elite forces and is said to have been responsible for a large-scale state-run drug trade.
According to Die Zeit's sources, Maher lives at a Four Seasons hotel and spends his days drinking and smoking a water pipe. In June, Qatari Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported that he was seen at a café in the Russian capital.
Both Bashar and Maher al-Assad are internationally wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The allegations include the deadly attack on the rebel-led Syrian Ghouta in 2013, in which UN investigators have established that the regime used the nerve gas sarin.
Until December 2024, the Syrian state had been ruled with an iron fist by the al-Assad family since the 1970s.
Syria's political system was formed by Hafiz al-Assad, president from 1970 to 2000. Son Bashar al-Assad inherited power after his father's death in 2000 and implemented some changes. But the basic system remained the same: with the president as both head of state, commander-in-chief, and with the highest executive power.
The uprising against Bashar al-Assad's regime that began in connection with the Arab Spring in 2011 soon took the form of a civil war with the involvement of foreign great powers, resulting in around half a million people killed and a massive refugee wave.
Independent organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have repeatedly reported on al-Assad's brutal rule and the state-run secret police that systematically tortured, imprisoned, and killed opponents of the regime.
In late 2024, the Assad regime was overthrown in a lightning-fast offensive with the Islamist movement HTS at the forefront. On December 8, HTS entered the capital Damascus and al-Assad fled to Russia.
Source: Landguiden/UI
