According to the Kremlin, Putin offered asylum to Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and his family for "humanitarian reasons," but the real motive appears to be far more capitalist. According to a 2019 Financial Times report, Assad purchased at least 20 luxury apartments in Moscow for $40 million.

Various sources indicate that since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Assad has sent approximately $100 million to Russia, with hundreds of millions more scattered across other destinations, such as Gulf countries. In total, the Assad family is estimated to have a fortune of nearly $1 billion in assets and bank accounts outside Syria that can be freely accessed.