Assad in exile: A reclusive life of shameless luxury

In the Rublyovka district of Moscow, home to several villages inhabited by the Russian elite, former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and his family are said to be living happily, a year after the regime’s fall, according to sources familiar with the situation and quoted by the British daily The Guardian.

The family is reported to be living a reclusive life, filled with shameless pleasures and luxury, hidden away in the ultra-prestigious residential area.

There, they reportedly rub shoulders with personalities such as former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled Kyiv in 2014 and lives in the region.

But beyond these few encounters, the former dictator is now cut off from the Russian elite circles he frequented while in power, and for whom he is now “insignificant,” according to a Kremlin insider.

Having become a cumbersome ally in the eyes of Vladimir Putin, he “isn’t even an interesting figure to invite to dinner anymore,” the source continues, before concluding: “Putin has little patience for leaders who lose power.”

Isolated from the outside world

Within Syrian circles, the situation is no different. While he’s blamed for fleeing Syria on Dec. 8, 2024, leaving loved ones to their fate, the "Butcher of Damascus" has kept "very few, if any, contacts with the outside world. He’s maintained ties with a few people who used to work in his palace, such as Mansour Azzam [former Syrian minister of presidential affairs] and Yassar Ibrahim [Assad’s main economic adviser],” says a family friend.

A close associate of his brother, Maher al-Assad, also told how, at the time of the regime’s collapse, “Maher had been calling Bashar for days, but he wouldn’t answer. It was Maher, not Bashar, who helped the others escape. Bashar only thought of himself.”

To keep himself occupied, the deposed leader is said to be back in class, taking ophthalmology courses, the field he had specialized in in the UK in the 1990s, before the death of his father, Hafez al-Assad, and his own rise to power in Syria.

He takes these courses “for pleasure,” claims a family friend in The Guardian. Though he “obviously doesn’t need money,” the source conjectures that the Moscow elite may be his target clientele.

The Assads are certainly not lacking in funds, despite the many sanctions imposed by the West since the war began in 2011, with the family having sent and invested much of their fortune in Moscow, notably through numerous real estate acquisitions.

Luxury shopping, high-end gyms, and trips to the Emirates

The couple’s children, Hafez, Zein, and Karim, are described as “a bit stunned” and “still in shock.” “They are just trying to get used to life without being the presidential family,” says the family friend.

Alongside their mother, they spend much of their time shopping, filling their new Russian home with luxury goods, according to a source close to the family, and frequently travel to the United Arab Emirates.

Leaked data reveals that Zein al-Assad regularly buys high-end clothes, is signed up at a chic pedicure salon and holds a membership at an upscale Moscow gym, The Guardian reports.

They were last seen together (with their mother but not their father) at the graduation ceremony of MGIMO University, attended by much of Russia’s ruling class, and where Zein, 22, completed a degree in international relations. They reportedly did not stay long and avoided going on stage for photos, according to the young woman's classmates.

Despite a new life of opulence, the family now has to keep a low profile. The eldest, Hafez, deleted his social media accounts and registered under a pseudonym after a video filmed in the streets of Moscow and posted on Telegram allowed Syrians to geolocate him.

Most importantly, Bashar al-Assad is no longer entirely free: The former Syrian president, having scheduled interviews with RT and an American podcaster, is still waiting for permission from Russian authorities to speak publicly, but they seem adamant in refusing to let him engage in any media or political activity.