Syria’s central bank transferred $250 million in cash to Russia between 2018 and 2019, a period when then-leader Bashar al-Assad heavily depended on Russian military support, The Financial Times reported on Monday, citing export data.
Between March 2018 and September 2019, over 20 flights reportedly landed at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport, carrying declared cash shipments totaling more than $250 million. The funds, transported in $100 bills and €500 notes, weighed close to two metric tons.
According to FT, the money was deposited into two sanctioned Russian banks: the Russian Financial Corporation Bank (RFK) and TsMR Bank. RFK, which operates under Rosoboronexport—Russia’s state arms exporter—was sanctioned by the United States in 2024 for facilitating foreign currency transfers and evading sanctions on behalf of the Syrian regime.
“The Syrian state could be paying the Russian state for a military intervention,” said Malik al-Abdeh, a London-based Syrian analyst, as quoted in the report.
Russia’s military intervention in 2015 marked a pivotal turning point in Syria’s civil war, strengthening Assad’s regime as it faced multiple rebel groups.
Earlier this month, Assad fled to Russia following a rapid offensive by Islamist-led rebel forces that seized Damascus, bringing an end to five decades of Baath Party rule.
The Syrian central bank’s cash transfers may also reflect “a combination of securing [the Assad family’s] ill-gotten gains and Syria’s patrimony abroad,” said David Schenker, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs.
“The regime would need to move their money abroad to a safe haven, allowing them to use it to procure a luxurious lifestyle for the regime and its inner circle,” Schenker told FT.
