On December 21, Turkish publication Habertürk reported that Asma al-Assad, the British-born wife of Bashar al-Assad, is seeking a divorce and planning to return to the UK.
At the same time, other media reports suggested that the ousted Syrian leader and his wife, Asma al-Assad, had been restricted to Moscow and had their property assets frozen by Russian authorities.
The Kremlin has dismissed the divorce rumors, while also denying claims that Syria's ousted leader, who sought asylum in Russia, has been barred from leaving the country or had his assets frozen.
"No, that is not accurate," said Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of Vladimir Putin, in a statement to journalists on December 23, Interfax reported.
Asma al-Assad, 48, was born to Syrian parents and raised in Acton, West London. The media reports claimed that she sought a divorce due to dissatisfaction with her new life in Moscow and expressed a desire to return to London for cancer treatment.
In May, it was disclosed that she had been diagnosed with leukemia, almost five years after she announced she had fully recovered from breast cancer.
According to the Financial Times article on December 9, Assad's extended family has reportedly acquired at least 20 luxury apartments in Moscow City for a total of $40 million.
On December 19, Putin does stated that he does not consider the fall of Assad's regime in Syria a loss for Russia, claiming that Moscow has achieved its goals in Syria.
On December 8, Syrian opposition forces announced the capture of Damascus and the overthrow of Assad’s regime, marking the end of over five decades of authoritarian rule by the Assad family.
-21d0b63c17f6020e4df75f6c6f9a2f4f.jpg "Ivan Khomenko")
