In a stunning revelation, Bashar al-Assad’s regime airlifted around $250 million in cash to Moscow between 2018 and 2019, underscoring the deepening financial ties between Syria and Russia during the Syrian Civil War. The transactions, involving nearly two tonnes of $100 bills and €500 notes, highlight the lengths to which Assad’s regime went to bypass Western sanctions and secure its survival with the Kremlin’s support.
As per the report by the Financial Times, the records showed the Syrian central bank’s flights to Moscow’s Vnukovo airport, where the cash was deposited at Russian banks under Western sanctions. While Syria faced a dire shortage of foreign currency, Russia became a crucial financial lifeline, with these transfers spanning from March 2018 to September 2019.
A lifeline from Moscow
As the Assad regime faced increasing isolation and economic hardship, Russia emerged as an essential partner in both military and financial terms. Assad’s reliance on Russian military support, including aid from Wagner group mercenaries, allowed him to maintain his grip on power. But it wasn’t just military hardware flowing from Russia to Syria—cash was also in transit. In May 2019, a plane carrying $10 million in $100 bills landed in Moscow. Earlier that year, the central bank also flew €20 million in €500 notes.
These airlifts were part of a broader effort to circumvent international sanctions that had crippled Syria’s economy and pushed it out of the global financial system. By 2018, Syria’s foreign reserves were practically nonexistent, forcing the central bank to rely on cash for transactions with foreign entities, including buying wheat from Russia and paying for military expenses, as reported by the Financial Times.
A sanctuary for Ill-Gotten Gains
The move to deposit large sums of cash in Russian banks was hardly surprising, according to David Schenker, former US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs. Schenker explained that the Assad regime has long sent money abroad, both to safeguard illicit wealth and maintain control over Syria’s limited resources. “The regime would have to bring their money abroad to a safe haven to be able to use it to procure the fine life… for the regime and its inner circle,” he said, as quoted by the Financial Times.
Eyad Hamid, a senior researcher at the Syrian Legal Development Programme, echoed this sentiment, pointing out that Russia had long served as a hub for the Assad regime to evade sanctions. Moscow’s role as a financial sanctuary for Assad is critical, especially considering that Western sanctions cut off Syria from the global banking system.
The regime’s double play: Military support and financial hiding
Assad’s survival in power was not only secured by Russian airstrikes and military aid but also by the flow of illicit money, much of which found its way into luxury assets, including real estate, in Moscow. The Assad family’s extended wealth was not confined to Syria; it had extended its reach into Russia’s property market, purchasing high-end real estate through various proxies and middlemen.
This came at a time when Syria’s economy was devastated by years of war. Assad’s extended family—particularly First Lady Asma al-Assad, a former JP Morgan banker—was deeply involved in controlling key parts of the country’s economy, including international drug trafficking and fuel smuggling, to generate much-needed revenue.
Sanctions evasion: A systematic approach
Russian financial institutions like Financial Corporation Bank (RFK), a lender controlled by Rosoboronexport, and TsMR Bank, were implicated in receiving the cash from Syria’s central bank. Both banks have been sanctioned by the US Treasury, which accused them of facilitating illicit financial transfers for the Assad regime.
In addition to Russia, Iran also played a crucial role in keeping Assad afloat. Corporate records show that Assad’s key economic advisor, Yassar Ibrahim, was deeply involved in companies connected to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah, which facilitated the movement of hundreds of millions of dollars to Syria. Despite the overwhelming international pressure, Assad’s inner circle managed to continue funneling assets to Russia and other safe havens, circumventing the sanctions that had crippled the country’s official economy.
A broken system of governance
As the regime’s financial and military dependency on Russia grew, Assad’s internal network of loyalists turned Syria into a breeding ground for corruption. The country’s wealth, already looted during the conflict, was further siphoned off by the ruling elite, with regime insiders securing financial empires both domestically and abroad. According to Hamid, “corruption under Assad was not a marginal affair or a side effect of the conflict. It was a way of government.”
For the Assad regime, Russia has not only been a military ally but also a crucial financial lifeline that allowed it to evade international scrutiny and continue its brutal war efforts. With no sign of Western sanctions letting up, it seems Moscow will remain the key hub for Syrian finances—and the Assad regime’s lifeline—amid the ongoing conflict.