From dictator to doctor: Assad resumes ophthalmology after flight to Moscow

Fourteen years after teenage boys spray-painted a warning on a Syrian school wall—“It’s your turn, Doctor”—Bashar al-Assad, the London-trained ophthalmologist and former president of Syria, has been deposed. After a conflict that left 620,000 dead and nearly 14 million displaced, Assad fled Damascus in the early hours of December 8, 2024, escaping with his sons under Russian military escort to the Khmeimim airbase before being flown to Moscow.

According to sources cited by The Guardian, Assad has returned to his medical training in exile. “He’s studying Russian and brushing up on his ophthalmology again,” said a friend of the Assad family who remains in contact with them. “It’s a passion of his; he obviously doesn’t need the money. Even before the war in Syria, he regularly practised ophthalmology in Damascus,” the source added, suggesting that Moscow’s wealthy elite could become his clients.

The Assad family now leads a quiet, luxurious life in Moscow and the UAE, according to leaked data, a family friend, and sources in Russia and Syria. They are believed to reside in Rublyovka, a gated enclave for Moscow’s elite, home to figures such as former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych.

Despite considerable wealth secured in Russia to avoid Western sanctions imposed in 2011, the family is largely cut off from both Syrian and Russian political circles. Bashar’s abrupt flight left his inner circle abandoned; Maher al-Assad, Bashar’s brother and top military official, reportedly helped palace staff escape while Bashar prioritised his own evacuation. Rifaat al-Assad, Bashar’s uncle, told The Guardian that family members initially had to sleep in their cars at Khmeimim before a senior Russian official arranged their safe passage to Oman.

In Moscow, the Assads focused first on the health of Asma al-Assad, the British-born former first lady, who had been critically ill with leukaemia. Sources say she has recovered following experimental therapy under Russian supervision.

Bashar reportedly intends to share his perspective through interviews with RT and a right-wing American podcaster, but Russian authorities have barred any public appearances. Russia’s ambassador to Iraq, Elbrus Kutrashev, confirmed in November that Assad “cannot engage in political or media activity. He is safe and alive, but irrelevant to political life.”

The Assad children are adjusting to elite Moscow life. Daughter Zein graduated from MGIMO University in June, attended by her mother and brothers Hafez and Karim, though the family kept a low profile. Hafez, once groomed as Bashar’s successor, has largely withdrawn from public view, posting only a single video from Moscow denying abandonment of allies. Leaked data suggests the family frequently travels to the UAE, shops at high-end stores, and uses luxury gyms and salons.

While the family initially hoped to relocate permanently to the UAE, sources say diplomatic sensitivities have prevented this. “They are still adjusting to life without being the first family,” said a family friend.

Kamal Alam, a former Atlantic Council fellow, told The Guardian: “It took the fall of the regime for personal images and details to emerge. The Assad family is very private and unlikely to become public again.”

By Tamilla Hasanova