Clips show Assad visiting China in 2023, not arriving in Russia after 2024 ouster

Syria’s ousted president Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia with his family after a rebel coalition swept into Damascus and toppled his government, but clips circulating on social media do not show him and his wife arriving in Moscow on December 8. In fact, the footage was taken when the couple attended the Asian Games in eastern China in 2023.

“On the afternoon of December 8, local time in Moscow, former Syrian President Bashar and his wife, have arrived safely at the Four Seasons Hotel in Moscow, Russia, to begin their new life,” read a simplified Chinese Weibo post on December 9, 2024.

The eight-second clip shows Assad’s wife, Asma al-Assad, putting a pin on his collar and the couple drinking tea at a wooden table.

Screenshot of the false Weibo post, captured on December 19, 2024

The video surfaced shortly after Assad fled to Moscow on December 8 after a shock rebel advance ended half a century of rule by his family, marked by repression and allegations of vast human rights abuses and civil war (archived link).

His departure came more than 13 years after his crackdown on democracy protests precipitated a civil war.

Russia was Assad’s key backer and had swept to his aid in 2015, turning the tide of the conflict.

Screenshots of the clips were shared hundreds of times alongside similar claims on Weibo here, here and here, as well as X here.

But the videos are old and were filmed in China in 2023.

China visit

A reverse image search on Google and subsequent keyword searches on X found the same video was uploaded on September 23, 2023 by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on its Spanish channel (archived link).

The caption said the video shows Assad and his wife Asma before an official lunch hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the clip in the false posts (left) and the footage posted by SANA (right):

A Chinese journalist affiliated with Chinese state-run broadcaster CGTN, Shen Shiwei, also uploaded the same video on X in September 2023 and said the couple was attending a welcome banquet for the Asian Games in Hangzhou hosted by Xi (archived link).

Keyword searches in AFP’s archives found a September 23, 2023 photo of the Assads at the Asian Games which showed Asma wearing the same dress as the one seen in the second clip circulating in the false posts (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison of the clip in the false posts (left) and the AFP photo (right):

Subsequent keyword searches on Google found a photo published by the state-affiliated Zhejiang Daily in an article about the tea served at the guest lounge during the Asian Games, which featured the same teaware and wooden table seen in the image of Assad and his wife drinking tea (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison of the image showing the Assads tasting tea (left) and the image published by Chinese media (right), with the corresponding elements highlighted by AFP:

AFP has debunked other false posts purportedly sharing “first images” of Assad in Moscow here.

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