At home, he is accused of intentional killings and torture leading to death.
The family of the ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is leading a "life of luxury and impunity" in Russia, where Assad has been granted asylum, The New York Times reports, citing friends of his family, relatives, and former Syrian officials.
Assad fled to Moscow in early December 2024 after opposition groups entered Damascus. Vladimir Putin provided him and his family asylum in Russia, where his family reportedly arrived on private jets.
Bashar al-Assad was initially housed at the Four Seasons hotel, where room rates can reach $13,000 a week. His family then moved to a two-story penthouse in the Federation Tower in Moscow City, and he is now reportedly living on Rublyovskoye Highway in the suburbs of Moscow under the protection of Russian special services, which control his movements and prohibit his family from making public statements.
His brother, former commander of the Republican Guard Maher Assad, also lived at the Four Seasons and the Capital Towers residential complex near the Moscow City business center, journalists learned. Maher Assad and the forces he led in Syria have been accused of shooting unarmed protesters and organizing a drug trafficking operation that reportedly earned them billions of dollars.
The Assad family, the publication notes, has managed to retain significant wealth. Investigators reached this conclusion by examining, among other things, the activities of Bashar and Maher Assad's daughters. For instance, Maher Assad's daughter Shams celebrated her 22nd birthday at the French restaurant Bagatelle in Dubai, and the next day held a party on a private yacht, the rental cost of which is several thousand dollars.
Bashar Assad and his brother reportedly have different approaches towards their former aides. Two former commanders and a family friend stated that Maher Assad sends money to officers he previously worked with so they can find housing or start a small business. In contrast, Bashar Assad, according to the publication's sources, left his aides in Moscow without funds. One of the aides, who carried his luggage, was one of the few individuals the former Syrian president took with him to Moscow. He did not manage to take his passport, money, or clothes. Upon arriving in Russia, he and two other aides were accommodated at the Four Seasons hotel, and the next morning they were presented with a huge bill. Bashar Assad did not respond to calls. As a result, the Russian authorities transferred his aides to a facility where other lower-ranking Syrian officers lived. Assad's personal assistant, who also found herself without money in Russia, decided to return to Syria, The New York Times claims.
Details about the Assad family's life became known to journalists thanks to an investigation by the newspaper concerning the whereabouts of 55 former high-ranking Syrian officials and military personnel. It states that some of them live in Moscow, while hundreds of Syrian security personnel who also fled the country had to find housing on their own, with some ending up in Siberia.
The new Syrian authorities previously announced the issuance of an arrest warrant for Bashar Assad. He is accused of intentional killings and torture leading to death. Reuters reported that the new Syrian authorities demanded that Russia extradite Bashar Assad. In October 2025, the transitional president of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, visited Moscow and met with Putin. News agencies reported that he would seek the extradition of Bashar Assad; however, it is unknown whether negotiations were held regarding his extradition and how Moscow responded to the alleged request, noted the television channel Current Time.
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