Many are wondering what kind of new life the former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his family will live in the capital, Moscow, after Russian President Vladimir Putin granted them asylum .
According to a report published by the British newspaper “Daily Mail”, the president’s wife, Asma al-Assad, who was born in London, is accustomed to a life of luxury, as information indicates that she spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on home furnishings and clothes during her husband’s rule .
The US State Department estimates the family’s wealth at $2 billion, hidden in numerous accounts, shell companies, offshore tax havens and real estate portfolios .
According to the newspaper, Assad and his family are now likely to draw on extensive family connections and assets in Moscow in the hope of maintaining their comfortable lifestyle .
According to the newspaper, the Assad family has bought at least 20 apartments in Moscow worth more than 30 million pounds in recent years .
The Kremlin confirmed that the family was granted asylum on direct orders from Putin .
Moscow did not reveal further details, with presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov telling reporters: “We have nothing to say about Assad’s whereabouts .”
Asma al-Assad is widely believed to have arrived in Moscow with her two sons, Hafez and Karim, aged 24 and 21, and daughter Zein, aged 22.
In 2012, WikiLeaks revealed private correspondence from Mrs. Assad, which showed that she spent $350,000 on palace furniture and $7,000 on crystal-encrusted shoes .
Assad’s relatives from the Makhlouf family are considered the second richest and most important family in Syria after his own family, and they have large assets in Russia .
To keep tens of millions of dollars out of Syria as war raged in the country, the family bought at least 18 luxury apartments in the City of Capitals complex, located in Moscow’s skyscraper district, according to the Financial Times .
The palatial building could now become home to the Assad family as they begin a new life in exile .
Photos of the apartments in the complex show luxurious furnishings and upscale furnishings, as well as panoramic views of Moscow .
The Assad family has strong personal ties to the Russian capital, with the former president’s eldest son a doctoral candidate at Moscow State University .
Russian media reported that Hafez al-Assad, who is twenty years old, defended his thesis at Moscow State University and became a candidate of physical and mathematical sciences .
The discussion reportedly took place on November 29 during the armed factions’ attack on Syria’s second largest city, Aleppo .
At the end of the thesis, Assad expressed his gratitude “to the martyrs of his homeland – Syria – and first and foremost to the martyrs of the Syrian Arab Army .”
He also expressed his gratitude to his parents Bashar and Asma, to the President of Moscow State University Viktor Sadovnichiy, to the university staff, and to the teachers and lecturers from Syria .
Last Sunday morning , the rule of the Assad family in Syria ended and the armed factions were able to enter the capital, Damascus, and the family’s residences, which are based on a network of secret escape tunnels.
