Tyrant Assad packed planes with two tonnes of CASH totalling £200m & sent them to Putin before fleeing war-torn Syria
BASHAR al-Assad sent planes to Russia with two tons of cash totaling $200 million.
Just hours before rebels overthrew his regime with a lightning strike that took his palace, the cowardly despot fled the nation.
However, Assad flew currency to Russia in the previous years.
According to the FT, records indicate that during 2018 and 2019, tons of money were transferred from Damascus to Moscow.
The payments were made at a time when the Wagner mercenary group and Russian fighter jets were supporting Assad’s government.
After the money was sent, Assad’s family also started purchasing opulent homes in Moscow and funding military assistance and food.
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Records show that between March 2018 and September 2019, the majority of the funds were transferred in USD and EUR.
Over $250 million was spent on 21 flights between March 2018 and September 2019.
In 2019, a plane carrying $10 million in $100 bills was sent on behalf of the Syrian central bank, according to Russian trade documents from the export data provider Import Genius.
Then, in February 2019, the central bank airlifted in about 20 million 500 notes.
Following Assad’s horrifying actions of repression against his own people, including the use of chemical weapons, Syria was subject to harsh economic sanctions.
According to a source, by 2018, foreign reserves had nearly run out, and the Assad regime was using funds to purchase grain and pay for Wagner.
After Assad was forced to flee, Putin personally offered him political shelter. He and his family are now attempting to start over in Russia.
In an attempt to continue living in luxury while in exile, the Syrian dictator and his family may be residing in one of the 20 apartments in Moscow that his extended family owns.
The apartments, which were bought in the affluent Moscow City neighborhood, are reportedly valued over $30 million in recent years, demonstrating how secure the Assads are in their friend Putin’s nation.
The City of Capitals complex, a twin-towered skyscraper that was formerly the largest in Europe, houses the majority of the apartments.
Assad fought to maintain his rule against the rebels after the civil war broke out in 2011.
After providing Assad with protection at the UN, Russia sent its aircraft to provide the despot air superiority in 2015.
Additionally, Putin only formally deployed a few special forces soldiers to support Assad.
To help win the fight on the ground, though, Russia was also using private military contractors like Wagner.
Given that talks are still going on regarding what will happen to his military bases in the nation, Putin may now lose them.
According to reports, Russia is attempting to maintain control of Tartus Naval Base and Khmeimim Air Base.
With the Tartus naval facility serving as Putin’s sole port in the Mediterranean, the bases are essential to Russia’s military projection.
But if they want full recognition, Western leaders want the new Syrian administration to expel the Russians.
Before escaping to the airport to be smuggled out of the country, Assad cowardly told his office that he was going home.
One of his cousins was killed by rebels in an ambush while attempting to escape Damascus, but the tyrant kept this a secret from some of his closest relatives.
According to Reuters, Assad kept his plans to leave the country a secret from nearly all of his closest advisers and employees.
He persisted in acting as though he would stay and fight; just hours before he fled, he spoke with army chiefs and told them to keep fighting and that Russian assistance was on the way.
When Assad finished his duties on Saturday, he announced to his employees that he was leaving for home.
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He even instructed his media advisor to compose a speech and visit his house.
However, the dictator had escaped to the airport and was not there when she arrived.
The Assad Dynasty
Hafez al-Assad, who created an authoritarian government after seizing power in a military coup in 1971, was the founder of the Assad dynasty in Syria.
Centralized government control, military might, repression of dissent, tight ties to the Soviet Union, and anti-Israelism were the main tenets of his leadership.
Because allegiance to Hafez became the most important value, corruption blossomed and he created a cult of personality.
Bassel, his older son, was being prepared to succeed his father, therefore Bashar wasn’t the first option.
When Bassel passed away in a car accident in 1994, Bashar was an ophthalmologist at Western Eye Hospital in London.
Bashar abruptly assumed the role of heir apparent and was summoned back to Damascus to get leadership training.
He served in the military for six and a half years, learning the ropes from his father.
After Hafez passed away in 2000 due to a heart attack, he established the first Arab dynastic republic by handing over power to Bashar with the support of his party.
At first, there were expectations that Bashar would implement liberal changes, but they were dashed when he instead carried on his father’s oppressive practices.
When demonstrators erupted in 2011, Assad violently attempted to put an end to them.
However, he caused the Syrian Civil War and lost the support of many of his people.
The ruthless ruler did all in his ability to maintain control, including using chemical weapons on rebel regions in 2013.
As the civil war continued, hundreds of thousands of people were killed, towns were destroyed, and ISIS was able to grow.
After Russia deployed jets to bomb rebels and the mercenary company Wagner to fight them, and Iran brought in Hezbollah crack fighters, Assad eventually took the upper hand.
With the rebels limited to a region in the country’s northwest earlier this year, it seemed as though Assad was about to win the conflict.
Instead of engaging in negotiations with the rebels, Assad aimed to eradicate them entirely.
However, the rebels overran Assad’s disloyal and corrupt army in a surprise attack on November 27.
In a rapid and decisive onslaught, opposition troops captured Damascus, claiming victory and declaring the city “free of Assad.”
The dictator left Syria in complete disgrace when he had to announce his resignation as president through the Russians.
Bashar is now under Russian protection after being granted asylum in Moscow.
All around Syria, there were celebrations following the fall of the 54-year-old Assad family.
Thousands of people flocked to the capital’s streets, blazing flares and waving rebel flags.
In symbolic acts of disobedience, statues of Assad and his late father, Hafez, were overturned.
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