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Information about the refuge of the ousted Assads in Russia is shrouded under complete secrecy. The media is not covering it at all; they are apparently following instructions above.
Meanwhile, the new leadership in Syria is demanding the extradition of the dictator who massacred his people. A short video uploaded by Hafez, Assad's eldest son, circulating on social networks has followers trying to geolocate where exactly he is on the streets of Moscow.
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Hafez Assad
In the video, Assad Jr. sought to clarify that the accounts in his name on X and Telegram are indeed his. These are the accounts in which he published information in recent days about the last moments before the fall of his father's regime and the family's escape to Moscow, but X removed the long and detailed post in less than an hour and closed the account without an official response.
In a video published online on Wednesday, Assad is seen walking in an upscale Moscow neighborhood and clarifying: "There were questions about the accounts on X and Telegram, and whether they belong to me. I wanted to clarify that they do belong to me and I have no other accounts on any other platform. Hello."
The new video sparked several reactions on social media. This is the younger Assad's first appearance from Moscow, and some users have tried to geolocate where it was filmed and posted possible landmarks on X. Some users claimed that Assad revealed his personal information on Telegram without noticing, but these were not verified.
On his Telegram and now-blocked X accounts, Assad described the moments before the family fled Syria. "There was no plan to leave Damascus, let alone Syria," he claimed. Assad, whose father had massacred hundreds of thousands of his own people through the course of the war, said: "Over the past 14 years, Syria has gone through circumstances no less difficult than those that occurred in late November and early December."
Assad said that he had come back to Moscow to complete his doctoral dissertation shortly before the rebel blitz attack that led to the collapse of the regime of his father. Meanwhile, his mother Asma, who is battling leukemia, was in the Russian capital at the time for a bone marrow transplant.
He said he had planned to stay in the city to complete paperwork for his degree but returned to Damascus on December 1 due to the worsening situation in Syria. His mother remained in Moscow for treatment, with his sister, Zain Assad, staying by her side.
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Assad wrote that on December 7-8, as opposition forces completed their takeover of Syria’s main cities, including Damascus, he was still in the country. He claimed that when rumors spread about his family fleeing, he took and published a photo of himself in a local park to refute them.
According to him, there were no signs of preparation for their departure until a "Russian official" arrived at their home, requesting that President Assad relocate to Latakia, home to a key Russian military base in Syria. "We left for Damascus International Airport around 3 a.m. and met my uncle, Maher Assad, there," he wrote, referring to the commander of the Syrian army’s Fourth Division, which was involved in managing the Captagon trade.
"The airport was empty, including the control tower," he added. "We then boarded a Russian military plane to Latakia, landing at Khmeimim Airport before dawn." It was only that day, December 8, that they realized they would have to leave for Russia. His full post detailing the last moments in Syria remains available on a Telegram account linked to him.