President Bashar al-Assad has left Syria behind, fleeing to Russia with his family and leaving his once-impenetrable Damascus mansion to be ransacked by militants and rebels.
Members of Jaish al-Islam, an Islamist and Salafist alliance with ties to al-Qaeda and other rebels, stormed the sprawling estate in the affluent al-Maliki neighborhood of Damascus after their rapid offensive toppled Assad’s government last week.
The luxurious compound, made up of three six-story buildings surrounded by manicured gardens, was a symbol of Assad’s power.
Rooms once filled with high-end furnishings were stripped bare by militants and other jubilant intruders, who roamed the halls with a mix of defiance and glee.
Video footage showed the militants and other Syrian citizens rifling through bedrooms — seizing plates, clothing and even a Louis Vuitton shopping bag.
One man was overheard joking that everything was on “Sale! Sale!”
“I am taking pictures, because I am so happy to be here in the middle of his house,” Abu Omar, one of the rebels told an AFP correspondent.
Meanwhile, Umm Nader, who came to see the residence with her husband, told AFP, “I came to see this place that we were banned from, because they wanted us to live in poverty and deprivation.”
Despite the luxury, the home now stands as a relic of a bygone era, with its heating and electricity still running — a stark contrast to the daily blackouts endured by ordinary Syrians.
Assad’s now-abandoned Presidential Palace, known as the “The People’s Palace” is located on Mount Mezzeh in western Damascus, near Mount Qasioun and the Mezzeh neighborhood — one of the more prestigious neighborhoods in the unstable country.
The palace spans over 310,000 square feet and up until this week sat within a heavily secured compound of a staggering 5.49 million square feet, which includes a private hospital and the Republican Guard headquarters.
Designed by Japanese architect Kenzo Tange, who left the project before construction began, the building features Carrara marble interiors and brass gates crafted by Syrian-Jewish artist Maurice Nseiri.
Commissioned by Hafez al-Assad in 1979, the palace has been characterized as having a “feudalistic” architectural style and has served as a venue for hosting government and foreign delegations, including a 1994 peace discussion between US President Bill Clinton and Hafez al-Assad.
Following the raid on the mansion on Sunday, according to Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Assad had already left Syria via Damascus International Airport through secret tunnels discovered under the palace.
Outside the mansion, streets filled with celebratory crowds who cheered the departure of Assad after more than 13 years of civil war.
While his home in Damascus is now under militant control, Assad and his family have found refuge in Moscow, where they were granted asylum by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Known for their immense wealth, estimated at $2 billion, the Assad family is expected to maintain a life of luxury in Russia.
Over the past decade, Assad’s relatives quietly purchased at least 20 high-end apartments in Moscow, valued at over $30 million.
Many of these properties are in the prestigious City of Capitals skyscraper complex, located in Moscow’s glittering financial district.
The City of Capitals complex, once Europe’s tallest building, is synonymous with opulence, boasting panoramic views, high-end finishes, and a prestigious address shared by Russia’s wealthiest elites.
These apartments now offer the Assads a comfortable refuge far from the chaos of Damascus.
It remains unclear whether the family will reside in one of these private properties or in a government-managed safe house.
Asma al-Assad, the London-born wife of the president, has long been associated with a taste for high-end living. In 2012, leaked emails revealed her penchant for lavish spending, including $350,000 on palace decor.
The Assad family’s new life in Moscow is likely to draw on these extensive financial resources, much of which is hidden in offshore accounts and real estate investments.
Assad’s eldest son, Hafez, also has deep ties to Russia, recently earning a PhD in physical and mathematical sciences from Moscow State University.
His dissertation, written in Russian and devoted to algebraic number theory, reflects the family’s longstanding connections to the Kremlin.
The fall of Damascus to Jaish al-Islam raises concerns about Syria’s future, particularly for the Christian minority that had been protected under Assad’s secular government. The militant group, known for its hardline Islamist ideology, now holds significant power in a nation fractured by war and economic collapse.