Who is Assad dining with in Russia? It’s not Putin

There will not be any cosy dinners at the Kremlin, but Bashar al-Assad may still be quaffing champagne and slurping caviar in his new life of luxury in exile in Russia.

Nothing has been seen of the murderous Syrian tyrant since he fled from Damascus on Sunday, but he joins a dubious list of unseated former pro-Kremlin dictators given sanctuary by Vladimir Putin.

Russian President Vladimir Putin dines at the Kremlin. Credit: AP

Viktor Yanukovych has lived in Russia since he was overthrown as Ukraine’s president in the 2014 Maidan Revolution, and Askar Akayev has made Moscow his home since he fled Kyrgyzstan after a 2005 revolution.

Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said that although the Russian president had approved Assad’s exile, he would not be inviting him for dinner.

“Of course, such decisions cannot be made without the head of state. It is his [Putin’s] decision,” he said.

But Assad may not need too much support from the Russian state. He arrived in Moscow with plenty of cash looted from Syria, where analysts say he hollowed out the economy.

Bashar al-Assad (left) and Putin light candles at an Orthodox cathedral in Damascus in January 2020.Credit: AP

The US has estimated that the Assads are worth roughly £1.5 billion ($3 billion), a fortune that includes properties in London and Moscow.

The family reportedly own 18 luxury apartments in Moscow’s City of Capitals complex, one of Europe’s tallest twin-headed skyscrapers, where their neighbours will be some of Russia’s wealthiest businessmen and five-star hotels.

Investigations have shown that part of the Assads’ fortune was built on turning Syria into a narco-state by mass-producing Captagon, an addictive amphetamine popular across the Middle East party scene.

Asma, Assad’s wife, and his three children – Zein, Hafez, and Karim, aged between 21 and 24 – are also believed to be in Moscow.

The Assad family reportedly owns 18 luxury apartments in Moscow’s City of Capitals complex.Credit: Bloomberg

Asma, profiled inVogue in 2011 as a “Rose in the Desert” – before her husband gassed, tortured and murdered thousands of opponents of his regime – is thought to be suffering from a rare form of leukaemia.

Hafez may already be familiar with Moscow’s party scene, as he reportedly lived in the city while studying for a maths PhD.

Of the two other former presidents living in exile in Russia, Yanukovych leads the most opulent life and makes for a more obvious dinner-party guest than the more downbeat Akayev.

Downbeat: Former Kyrgyz president Askar Akayev.Credit: AP

Yanukovych is reported to live in a large house in the suburbs of Moscow and enjoy hunting trips to Sochi in south Russia, where Putin also owns a palatial holiday home.

Yanukovych and Assad both appear to share a taste for opulence.

As with the videos released on Sunday of rebels strolling around Assad’s garage filled with dozens of sports cars, Ukrainians had ogled at Yanukovych’s abandoned dacha fitted with golden taps and fine art.

Akayev, a former professor, has simpler tastes and has been photographed riding the Moscow metro wearing a thick coat, a flat cap and smudged glasses.

Vladimir Putin, right, with ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, who is now living in exile in Russia.Credit: AP

The 80-year-old, apparently, also doesn’t care much for his life in Russia. This year, he begged Kyrgyzstan’s parliament to be allowed back home “to see out” his remaining years.

The Telegraph, London

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