Bashar al-Assad Allegedly Poisoned In Russia!
There is no escape for Bashar al-Assad from the enemies even after leaving Damascus as an attempt has been made to eliminate the ousted Syrian President by poisoning him. Although it is still not clear who has made the attempt, political analysts are of the opinion that Russia is behind this conspiracy!
Syrian rebels, under the leadership of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) chief Abu Mohammad al-Julani (or Abu Mohammed al-Golani; born Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa), triggered the fall of the al-Assad Regime by capturing Damascus on December 8, 2024. The rebels’ victory in the decades-long Syrian Civil War prompted al-Assad to flee the West Asian nation and to take asylum in Moscow. Later, Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin confirmed that his administration provided the al-Assad family with political asylum, saying that the Kremlin took responsibility for their security. However, the former Syrian President suddenly fell ill on December 29, 2024. According to sources, the 59-year-old was having difficulty breathing and was also coughing a lot. A doctor was immediately arranged for his apartment and the medical examination revealed that al-Assad was poisoned!
A former Russian agent leaked the news from his General SVR social media account, mentioning that al-Assad first informed security guards that he felt unwell and breathing problems, and also asked for medical help to be called. According to the former agent, the ousted President had a headache and abdominal pain, too. His condition deteriorated by the time medical help arrived. The account claimed that his condition was stable, although tests showed that the former dictator was exposed to a poisonous substance. The ex-top Russian spy stressed: “There is every reason to believe an assassination attempt was made.“
Meanwhile, neither Moscow nor Damascus has issued any official statements on the attempt on al-Assad’s life. The former Russian agent, too, did not reveal in his social media post what kind of poison was used to target al-Assad.
The Russian agents are famous for secretly poisoning their enemies. Hence, experts believe that the Putin Administration made the attempt to eliminate the former Syrian President. They have mentioned three incidents in this context. Alexei Anatolyevich Navalny (June 4, 1976 – February 16, 2024), the Russian opposition leader and anti-corruption activist, perished in a Russian Arctic prison in 2024 under mysterious circumstances. Although the prison authorities claimed that he died of a heart attack, Navalny’s widow dismissed the claim, stating that her husband was poisoned slowly. Yulia Navalnaya further accused the Putin Administration of “torturing” the corpse of her husband, saying: “Tell me, how did you discover this arrhythmia during the autopsy? Heart rhythm disturbances cannot be determined posthumously and during his lifetime, Alexei did not have any heart diseases.“
The second incident took place in England in 2018. Moscow was allegedly behind the attempted poisoning of former Russian military intelligence officer Sergei Viktorovich Skripal and his daughter Yulia. British intelligence officers claimed that the father-daughter duo was found unconscious in a garden near their London residence on March 4, 2018. Although they survived, Skripal and Yulia had to spend several months at Salisbury District Hospital in a critical condition. Doctors found that Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with a Russian-developed Novichok nerve agent! As Skripal acted as a double agent for the British intelligence services during the late 1990s and early 2000s, Moscow decided to eliminate him. Unfortunately, the British detectives had not been able to arrest anyone on charges of attempted murder.
Alexander Valterovich Litvinenko (August 30/December 4, 1962 – November 23, 2006), a former officer of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) who specialised in tackling organised crime and a prominent critic of President Putin, was also accused of treason. Although the British-naturalised Russian defector took shelter in London, Moscow eliminated him in 2006. Litvinenko fell ill on November 1 (2006) and was admitted to Barnet General Hospital in London a couple of days later. Then, he was moved to University College Hospital where doctors attributed his illness to poisoning with Radionuclide Polonium-210 after they found significant amounts of this rare and highly toxic element in his body. Incidentally, Litvinenko met two former Russian agents – Dmitry Kovtun and Andrey Lugovoy – early on the day he fell ill in the Pine Bar of the Millennium Hotel where high polonium contamination was found later!
The question arises here: Why is President Putin trying to eliminate his guest? Political analysts have mentioned various reasons behind this. They have argued that Moscow cannot receive any favour from al-Assad in the current political scenario in Syria. During his Presidency, al-Assad allowed Russia to set up military, as well as naval, bases on the Mediterranean coast. As the HTS has assured Moscow that it has no objection to those Russian bases, Moscow is not at all worried about al-Assad’s future.
In fact, there would be a danger for Russia if al-Assad survives. It may be noted that the former Syrian President was accused of using chemical weapons against the rebels while in power. Russia also carried out several airstrikes in different parts of Syria in order to help al-Assad to stay in power. Now, the global community can accuse President Putin of violating Human Rights in Syria.
Secondly, Asma Fawaz al-Assad, the wife of Bashar al-Assad who is suffering from cancer, wants to visit London for medical treatment. However, the Putin Administration has rejected her request to leave Russia for the UK. The Kremlin fears that the former First Lady of Syria could leak confidential information about ties between Damascus and Moscow. A section of analysts is of the opinion that these issues may prompt the Kremlin to eliminate al-Assad.
Others believe that the US or Turkish agents may also try to kill the former Syrian President in an attempt to take political revenge. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), too, used poison to eliminate enemies on various occasions.
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