【Wen/Observer Net Wang Yi】A year ago, the Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) led by Abu Muhammad al-Julani captured Damascus, the capital of Syria, and the Assad regime that had ruled Syria for decades collapsed. The then-president Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia with his family.

One year after the regime change in Syria, on December 15, the British newspaper The Guardian reported that Assad, who had fled to Moscow, was relearning ophthalmology and preparing to resume his old profession as an ophthalmologist.

"He is learning Russian while also revising ophthalmology," said a friend who still maintains contact with the Assad family. "It's his interest, and he obviously has no lack of money. Even before the outbreak of the Syrian war, he often practiced medicine in Damascus." This person also hinted that the wealthy elite in Moscow could become targets for Assad.

Photo of Assad working as an ophthalmologist, screenshot from video

The report found through a friend of the Assad family, sources from Russia and Syria, and leaked data that the family currently lives a low-key, isolated, and affluent life in Russia and the UAE.

Two informed sources revealed that the Assad family likely resides in the exclusive Rublyovka community in Moscow, which is home to many Russian elites, including former Ukrainian President Yanukovych, who fled Kyiv in 2014 and is believed to live there as well.

The report stated that the Assad family is not short of money, lives in comfortable accommodations, but has been excluded from both Syrian and Russian elite circles. Bashar fled Syria at the last moment a year ago, leaving his allies feeling abandoned, and the Russians have also restricted his contact with senior officials from the previous regime.

"His life is very quiet," said the family friend, "he hardly interacts with the outside world, only maintaining contact with a few people who used to work in the presidential office, such as former Minister of Presidential Affairs Mansour Azam and his chief economic advisor Yasser Ibrahim."

A source close to the Kremlin said that Bashar is largely "irrelevant" in the eyes of Russian politics, "no longer seen as an influential figure".

Bashar is the son of the late former Syrian president Hafez al-Assad. As the second son, his life path seemed to have little to do with politics. After graduating from the University of Damascus Medical School in 1988, he became an ophthalmologist and worked as a military doctor in a military hospital in Damascus. He went to London for further studies in 1992.

Old Assad never intended for Bashar to take over, focusing instead on cultivating his eldest son Bassel al-Assad. However, Bassel died in a car accident in 1994, and the other two younger sons were not up to the task. It was then that Hafez summoned Bashar back to Syria.

In 2000, after Hafez al-Assad's death, Bashar was elected president. After ruling Syria for 24 years, on the early morning of December 8, 2024, opposition forces attacked Damascus from both north and south. The Assad family and some senior officials fled hastily under the protection of the Russian army.

A person familiar with Bashar's brother, former high-ranking Syrian general Maher al-Assad, revealed that before the incident, Maher called Bashar several days in a row, but he never answered. He stayed in the presidential palace until the last moment, and when the rebels entered, the shisha coal was still warm. It was actually Maher who helped others escape, not Bashar.

The lawyer of Bashar's uncle Rifat al-Assad recalled that after Bashar fled, the family members were in a panic, unsure how to leave Syria. When they arrived at the Khmeimim Air Base in Russia, they told the Russian soldiers they were members of the Assad family, but the soldiers didn't speak English or Arabic, so eight people ended up sleeping in their cars outside the base. It wasn't until a high-ranking Russian official intervened that these family members were able to flee to Oman.

The Guardian reports that in the first few months after the Assad family fled, Bashar did not spend much time thinking about his former allies. The family members chose to reunite in Moscow mainly to support Asma al-Assad, the former "First Lady," who had been suffering from leukemia for years. Her condition worsened before the fall of the regime, and she has been receiving treatment in Moscow since then.

On July 8, 2022, Assad (left center) and his wife Asma (center) with their three children walked outside the Grand Mosque in Aleppo, Syria. Social media

A source familiar with Asma's health condition revealed that under the supervision of Russian security agencies, Asma received experimental treatment, and her condition has stabilized.

The British media reported that as Asma's health improved, Bashar began to hope to speak out and tell "his own story." He has arranged to be interviewed by Russia Today (RT) and a prominent American right-wing podcast host, but is still waiting for Russian approval.

Russian Ambassador to Iraq Elbrus Kudratshayev said in an interview in November that Assad is banned from participating in any public activities. "Assad can live here, but he cannot participate in political activities... He has no right to any media or political activity. Have you heard him speak? No, because he is not allowed to— but he is safe and alive."

By contrast, the impact on the lives of Bashar's children seems smaller, and they are gradually adapting to their new life as Moscow elites. A family friend said, "They seem a bit stunned, I think they are still in shock, slowly adjusting to life without being the 'first family'."

Since the fall of the regime, the only public appearance of the Assad family (excluding Bashar) was at the graduation ceremony of their daughter Zain al-Assad on June 30. She graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, a university known for its elite students.

A photo published on the website of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations shows the 22-year-old Zain standing among other graduates. In another blurry video, Asma and her two sons, Hafiz and Karim, can be seen in the audience.

Zain al-Assad wearing a white dress at her graduation ceremony.

Two classmates who attended the graduation ceremony said that some members of the Assad family attended the event, but were very low-key. One of them revealed, "They didn't stay long, and didn't take photos with other families like the others did."

The eldest son Hafiz posted a video on Telegram in February describing the family's experience fleeing Damascus, denying that the family abandoned their allies and claiming it was the Russians who asked them to leave Syria. Syrian netizens quickly confirmed via geolocation that the video was filmed on the streets of Moscow. After that, Hafiz closed most of his social media accounts.

The Assad children also frequently travel to the UAE, with Asma accompanying them at least once. Flight records obtained by The Guardian from 2017 to 2023 show that the UAE had already become a preferred destination for the Assad family during their rule.

According to reports, the Assad family had hoped to permanently move to the UAE from Moscow. Compared to Russia, the UAE is more familiar to them. Due to not speaking Russian, they found it difficult to integrate into the local social circle, and they did not adapt well to life in Russia. However, a family friend said that now they realize it will be difficult to achieve this relocation in the short term, as even the UAE, which hosts a large number of global gray elites, is hesitant to accept the Assad family.

After fleeing to Russia, German media reported that Bashar rarely goes out, "deeply addicted to online games." In October, RT also reported that the "Syrian Human Rights Observatory" cited sources saying that Assad may have been poisoned and was hospitalized in Moscow before being discharged.

After the collapse of the Assad regime, the opposition discovered and publicly released many photos of the family's estate in Assad's residence, allowing Syrians to glimpse the daily life of the former first family.

Kamal Alam, a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council in the United States, said, "These photos were only exposed after the regime fell. I think this family places great emphasis on privacy and has never wanted to be exposed; they will continue to do so in the future."

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Original: toutiao.com/article/7584096339127009792/

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