Assad's cash airlift: $250m smuggled to Russia amidst collapse

Journalists from the British Daily accessed documents showing that the Syrian authorities transported about 2 tons of banknotes by air to Moscow's Vnukovo airport. The money was to be deposited in Russian banks. The transport took place at a time when the Syrian regime was utilizing support from Wagner Group mercenaries.

According to commercial documents from Import Genius, in 2019, a plane landed at Vnukovo airport carrying $10 million in hundred-dollar bills, sent on behalf of the Syrian central bank. In February of the same year, the central bank transported about $22 million in 500-euro notes. Between March 2018 and September 2019, 21 flights carried money worth over $250 million.

An individual familiar with the data from the Syrian central bank told the "Financial Times" that by 2018, foreign reserves were almost completely exhausted. Due to sanctions, the bank had to make payments in cash. The funds were allocated for purchasing Russian wheat, money printing services, and "defense" expenses.

Relations between the two countries tightened in 2015 when Russian military advisors supported Assad, and Russian companies entered the supply chain for Syrian phosphates.

In early December 2024, Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria began to collapse. The president left the country's capital on a plane.

Syrian rebels reported that their units entered Damascus without encountering resistance from government forces. Sounds of intense gunfire were heard in the city center. Prime Minister Muhammad Ghazi al-Jalali announced he was ready to cooperate with any leader chosen by the people. Rebel reconnaissance units had previously entered the city with the mission of finding President Bashar al-Assad but did not capture him.

Earlier, the rebels reported capturing the country's third-largest city, Homs. In previous days, they had taken Aleppo, Hama, and gained control of nearly the entire southwestern part of the country.

The rebels also liberated a military prison in the town of Saydnaya, located about 10 miles north of Damascus, where thousands of opponents of the regime were held.

The battles preceding the Syrian president's escape were the most serious clashes since 2020, when the front line in the civil war, ongoing since 2011, froze. Assad's regime managed to regain control of most of the country's territory, largely thanks to the support of Russia and Iran.

Both countries continued to support Assad's regime; Russian aviation regularly bombed cities controlled by rebels, but both Moscow and Tehran were also involved in other conflicts. Russia has been at war in Ukraine for over two years, and Iran has been supporting Hamas, Hezbollah, and Houthi activities against Israel for more than a year. According to SOHR, over 800 people have been killed in the current phase of the conflict in Syria, including more than 100 civilians. The UN reported 370,000 refugees. Since 2011, at least half a million people have died in the Syrian civil war.