Assad Airlifted $250 Million to Moscow Before Fleeing Syria: Report

What's New

Around a quarter of a billion dollars was airlifted to Russia from Syria by Bashar al-Assad more than five years before his downfall, it has been reported.

The Financial Times (FT) said that it had uncovered records showing that Assad's regime flew two tonnes of banknotes into Moscow between 2018 and 2019 to be deposited at Russian banks. Newsweek has contacted the Russian foreign ministry for comment.

Why it matters

A longtime ally of Syria, Russia has significant military assets in the country, including a port for its naval vessels in Tartus, which Moscow is hoping to hang onto following Assad's downfall.

The Syrian president relied on Vladimir Putin keeping him power during the Syrian civil war, with Russian aircraft bombing the rebel stronghold of Aleppo in 2015 and 2016.

However, Assad was eventually toppled earlier this month by rebels led by the group Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham.

Assad's regime has been accused of looting Syria's wealth and turning to criminal activity to finance the civil war.

What to know

The FT says that Syria's central bank airlifted $250 million in cash to Russia at a time when Assad was indebted to Moscow and the Middle Eastern country was desperately short of foreign currency.

Russian trade records from trade data specialists Import Genius show that on May 13, 2019, a plane carrying $10 million in $100 bills landed at Moscow's Vnukovo airport.

A total of 21 flights took place between March 2018 and September 2019 carrying a declared value of over $250 million, the FT said. Prior to 2018 there were no records of such cash transfers, the paper added.

On Monday, Assad issued his first public statement since his ouster, saying that he had planned to keep fighting rebel forces before Russia evacuated him.

The statement said he left for Russia on December 8 a day after the fall of Damascus, and added that "at no point" did he consider stepping down.

What people are saying

"The regime would have to bring their money abroad to a safe haven to be able to use it to procure the fine life," David Schenker, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs told the FT.

"Russia has been a haven to the Assad regime's finances for years," Eyad Hamid, senior researcher at the Syrian Legal Development Program, told the publication.

What Happens Next

Assad and his family are reportedly in Russia where they hold significant real estate assets.

There is speculation over whether they will live out a quiet life in exile as other deposed dictators in the Russian capital have done, such as former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych.

At the same time, there will be a push to seek justice for the human rights violations that allegedly took place during his rule.

In an op-ed for legal publication The Jurist, David Crane, former chief prosecutor for the Special Court for Sierra Leone said that the challenge "lies in establishing a credible mechanism for accountability that addresses the grievances of the Syrian people and upholds the principles of justice."