Ex-Syrian President Assad Poisoned
Reports have surfaced of an attempted assassination targeting ex-Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in Moscow, where he has been living under Russian protection since being deposed ten months ago.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, citing a private source, Assad was hospitalized on the outskirts of Moscow after allegedly being poisoned. The source claimed the attack was intended to “embarrass the Russian government and accuse it of being complicit” in Assad’s potential death.
The rights group reported that Assad’s condition is now “stable.” During his hospital stay, only his brother, Maher Assad, was permitted to visit him, under heavy security.
The Kremlin has so far made no public comment on the incident. Earlier, unconfirmed reports suggested Assad was admitted to the hospital in critical condition following suspected poisoning.
Syria’s new leadership has formally demanded Assad’s extradition, but Moscow continues to refuse. Russian president Vladimir Putin personally granted Assad asylum, along with his family and senior regime figures, after the collapse of his government.
Now 60, Assad has not appeared publicly since arriving in Russia. It is believed he remains under close guard by Russian security services. While there is no independent confirmation of the poisoning, earlier reports suggested he complained of breathing difficulties and feeling unwell shortly after arriving in Moscow.
The U.S. State Department estimates Assad’s family fortune at $2 billion, spread across offshore accounts, shell companies, real estate, and hidden investments. Since relocating to Moscow in December, the family has been linked to luxury assets, including at least 20 apartments worth more than £30 million.
His wife, Asma al-Assad — a London-born former banker who has been battling an aggressive form of leukemia — reportedly arrived in Moscow with their three children just days before Assad fled Damascus.
Rebel forces later discovered secret tunnels beneath a Damascus mansion once used by the Assad family, possibly intended as escape routes. Reports also suggest Assad may have fled Syria via Russia’s Khmeimim airbase, with flight trackers showing a Russian plane departing Latakia shortly before his arrival in Moscow.
The sudden fall of Damascus after a rapid rebel offensive ended both Syria’s 13-year civil war and six decades of Assad family rule. The collapse of Assad’s government was seen as a major embarrassment for Moscow, which had spent years providing military and financial backing — including airstrikes — to try to keep him in power.
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