The Financial Times reported, based on an analysis of banking records, that the deposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime transferred approximately $250 million in cash to Moscow between 2018 and 2019, while his family secretly purchased assets in Russia.

The Financial Times stated that the money transferred to Moscow was delivered to the Russian Financial Corporation Bank, and Assad's senior aides continued to move assets to Russia despite Western sanctions.

The newspaper revealed that Assad's regime, which was suffering from a severe shortage of foreign currency, transported cash weighing about two tons in $100 and €500 denominations to Vnukovo Airport in Moscow to be deposited in sanctioned Russian banks between 2018 and 2019.