Former Syrian President Bashar Assad was “distant, uninterested and obsessed with video games“ in the years before the fall of his regime, according to The Atlantic, citing officials in his palace in Damascus.
No country in the region wanted the fall of Assad's regime and several offered him help, but he refused, the magazine reports. Even in recent days, foreign ministers have called him with offers of deals, but the former Syrian leader has not responded. The publication does not rule out the possibility that he was “affected“ from predictions that he would be forced out of power.
Many Syrians see Assad’s escape as a betrayal and are convinced that he bears full responsibility for what happened. “You can still find people who believe in Muammar Gaddafi, who believe in Saddam Hussein,” said Syrian journalist Ibrahim Hamidi. “Now no one believes in Bashar Assad, not even his brother.”
Even during the Syrian civil war, almost no one expected Assad’s regime to survive, the publication says. By the end of 2017, Assad had won the war. He controlled the major cities, and the opposition was confined to the northwestern province of Idlib, where current President Ahmed al-Sharaa has become a leading figure.
According to many Syrians, it was in this illusory moment of victory that everything went wrong. Assad seemed unaware that his triumph was hollow: much of his country was reduced to ruins, the economy was practically destroyed, and sanctions imposed by the United States and Europe further exacerbated the situation, The Atlantic notes.
In December 2024, Assad's regime was overthrown and the president fled to Russia, where he was granted asylum. The armed opposition came to power, and al-Sharaa led the country during the transitional period. The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed that Assad was in Russia and safe.
Last fall, Zeit reported that Assad and his family were living in the luxurious Moscow City and spending hours playing online games.
According to Reuters, before fleeing Syria, the former president managed to take out $500,000 in cash, valuables, documents, laptops and hard drives containing classified information on a rented Embraer plane.