Cancer battle of Assad's British wife: Asma 'fled to Moscow WEEKS before her dictator husband so she could undergo medical treatment'… as it's feared she could use her illness to return to UK
Bashar al-Assad's British wife fled to Moscow weeks before her husband to receive cancer treatment as the Syrian regime fell, sources have claimed.
Asma al-Assad joined her parents in the Russian capital to undergo treatment for leukaemia, following her diagnosis earlier this year.
Sources familiar with the escape told the Financial Times that the former First Lady 'has been there for several weeks', seeking medical support.
It comes as Turkish media reported the 49-year-old is now seeking to leave Russia as her health condition 'cannot be adequately monitored in Moscow'.
Rumours circulated this week that Ms Assad could now be seeking divorce from her partner of 24 years as a 'precondition' for her return to London as a return 'cannot be based solely on health reasons'.
Ms Assad is currently exiled in Moscow with her husband following the fall of the Syrian capital on December 8.
The Kremlin was quick to push back on claims reported by Turkish outlet Haberturk that she is looking to leave her husband and flee Russia to return to the UK.
But analysts have signalled fears for her safety in Moscow, describing her life in Moscow as a 'golden cage' under the thumb of President Vladimir Putin.
'Life in Moscow, Russia - in a golden cage - is no longer satisfactory for Asma Assad,' pro-opposition political analyst Stanislav Belkovsky warned this week.
'She wants to move to London, UK and return to work in investment banking [and] at the same time, if possible, to remove part of her family's capital from sanctions.'
Bashar al-Assad's wife Asma is seen at the Bristol hotel on December 9, 2010 in Paris
Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma walk in a street of Paris on December 10, 2010
Bashar and Asma Al-Assad are pictured meeting with Vladimir Putin in 2005
Despite having British citizenship, Ms Assad remains bound by sanctions, which No10 confirmed yesterday would block her from being able to return to the UK.
While Russian authorities are now reportedly considering her application to leave, the Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, has insisted she is 'not welcome here in the UK' due to sanctions.
No10 refused to comment on whether she could have her citizenship revoked to stop her coming to the UK.
Assad himself is said to have been restricted to living in Moscow, where the family reportedly own at least 18 luxury flats, and cannot travel the country.
Assad's wider family are believed to own dozens of apartments in the Russian capital and he reportedly moved to Moscow some 270 kilograms of gold and £1.6 billion with him when he fled Syria.
But his assets and money in the country are now said to have been frozen, unconfirmed reports added.
Contested reports shared Sunday claimed that Ms Assad was '[dissatisfied] with her living conditions in Moscow'.
She reportedly applied to the courts for special permission to leave Moscow.
Assad's extended family reportedly purchased at least 18 luxury apartments in the City of Capitals complex, located in Moscow's glittering skyscraper district
In Moscow, the Assad clan is linked to luxury properties in both the 990ft City of Capitals complex and the nearby 1,226ft Federation Tower (pictured)
Queen Elizabeth II receives Asma al-Assad and her husband, then Syria's president Bashar Al-Assad, on December 17 2002, at Buckingham Palace, in London on their first visit to Britain
This was 'currently under evaluation' and 'the result has not yet been determined' as of last week, Haberturk reported.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov rejected the claims and denied that the former president, a long-time ally of Putin, had been confined to Moscow.
Asked on a conference call if the reports corresponded to reality, Peskov said: 'No they do not correspond to reality.'
There has been so far no comment on the divorce reports from al-Assad or his wife.
Ms Assad was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia 'after presenting with several symptoms and following a comprehensive series of medical tests and examinations,' a statement shared in May said.
While in Syria, she was to 'adhere to a specialized treatment protocol that includes stringent infection prevention measures' and would 'temporarily withdraw from all direct engagements' as part of the treatment plan, it added.
Acute myeloid leukemia is an aggressive cancer of the bone marrow and the blood.
Ms Assad was previously been treated for breast cancer.
Asma al-Assad, wife of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, speaks with school girls in Aleppo, February 8 2004
The former home of Dr Fawaz Akhras, the Father-in-Law of deposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
Tony Blair (R) greets Bashar al-Assad (L) and his wife Asma (C) as they arrive December 16, 2002 in London
In August 2019, she announced that she was 'completely' free of the disease a year after her diagnosis.
Ms Assad, a controversial figure through the war, was born and raised in the United Kingdom, where she went by 'Emma' growing up.
Her parents lived in a modest home in North Acton, West London where they raised their daughter, who went on to become an investment banker.
She later left her career behind to marry the then-newly minted President Bashar Assad, in 2000.
She maintained a public role as First Lady, promoting civil and charity groups, but has been accused of using her British education and Western style to try to mask the brutality of her husband's crackdown on dissent.
Neighbours told MailOnline that Ms Assad's parents left for Moscow at the start of December, where their daughter, Assad and grandchildren are seeking asylum under Vladimir Putin.
