Kremlin denies Assad’s wife divorce rumours

Arabic and Turkish media claimed Asma al-Assad was dissatisfied with her quality of life in Moscow and had demanded a divorce from the deposed Syrian dictator.

Asma and Bashar al-Assad, pictured in 2010, were granted asylum in Russia after the fall of Damascus this month. Picture: Miguel Medina/AFP

The Kremlin has denied reports that Asma al-Assad, the British-born wife of Syria’s deposed dictator, has filed for a divorce weeks after fleeing to Russia to escape rebel forces.

Arabic and Turkish media claimed that she was dissatisfied with her quality of life in Moscow and had demanded a divorce from Bashar al-Assad, whose brutal regime collapsed this month.

Turkish media also reported that the former Syrian president had been confined to Moscow by the Kremlin and that his assets in Russia had been frozen. Assad and his family are estimated to possess 270kg of gold and £1.6 billion, as well as real estate.

“No, they do not correspond to reality,” Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said when asked to comment on the reports. Assad’s regime had been propped up by the Russian military since 2015.

Assad and his wife Asma in Paris, 2008. Picture: Gerard Cerles/AFP Photo

Asma, who was diagnosed with leukaemia in May, was born and grew up in west London to Syrian parents. She was known as Emma at school and later studied at King’s College London before going on to work as an investment banker for JP Morgan. She met Assad during a childhood holiday in Syria and they started dating when he was in London studying to be an ophthalmologist.

The Assads have three adult children who are also believed to be in Moscow. The Kremlin said President Putin had given the family asylum on “humanitarian grounds”. Only three Syrians had previously been granted permanent asylum in Russia since the start of the civil war in 2011.

David Lammy, the foreign secretary, said this month that Asma was “not welcome.” Picture: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Assad’s extended family owns 18 luxury apartments worth a total of £30 million in the prestigious Moscow City district, according to Global Witness, an anti-corruption group.

It is unlikely that Assad’s wife would move to Britain if she did leave Russia. Her UK assets were frozen in March 2012 and David Lammy, the foreign secretary, said this month that she was “not welcome”. Sir Keir Starmer has said it is “too early” for discussions about revoking her British citizenship. In 2020 she was sanctioned by the United States, which called her one of “Syria’s most notorious war profiteers”.

The Times