The former head of Syria's General Security Directorate, Hussam Luka, a key figure in Bashar al-Assad's brutal apparatus, was found living under Kremlin protection on the outskirts of Moscow, it was revealed The Telegraph and investigation of BBC.
After the spectacular fall of the regime in December 2024, Luca managed to escape international justice and the new Syrian authorities, who were looking for him for mass massacres and crimes against humanity.
Who is Hussam Luka and what is he accused of?
Hussam Luka is said to be one of Assad's most brutal executors of his orders during the 13-year civil war. As a local commander in the city of Homs, his phone number was written on the walls of buildings, promising citizens “safe passage“ beyond the siege. However, witnesses say that many people who sought him disappeared without a trace. [1]
Among his most serious crimes is the so-called “Slaughter of Children“ since 2015 during the Eid al-Adha holiday in the Al-Waer neighborhood of Homs, in which airstrikes killed 28 people, including 17 children. Activists say Luka personally chose the targets for the bombings. His brutality ensured his rapid rise through the ranks, eventually taking control of the infamous Sednaya prison near Damascus, dubbed the "human slaughterhouse," and heading State Security. [1]
The Escape to Russia: With a Suitcase of Cash at the Embassy
When the rebels entered Damascus on December 8, 2024, Luka initially remained in the government compound, awaiting orders to counterattack. Realizing that the top leadership had already fled, at around 2:00 a.m. he forced an accountant to open the party safe and stole about $1.36 million in cash. [1]
With the money, Luka reached the Russian embassy in Damascus, which organized his evacuation via the Moscow-controlled Khmeimim air base directly to the Russian capital. BBC journalists managed to locate him in two different Moscow suburbs using clues from an old telephone directory found in his abandoned luxury apartment in Damascus. [1, 2, 3]
What's happening to Bashar al-Assad in Moscow?
While his spy chief hides in more modest suburban areas, the fallen dictator Bashar al-Assad himself enjoys a “luxurious exile“. Immediately after his escape in late 2024, the Kremlin granted him official humanitarian asylum. [1, 2, 3]
Initially, Assad and his family were housed in the five-star Four Seasons Hotel in central Moscow, where overnight stays cost thousands of dollars a week. The family later moved to a two-story penthouse in the iconic Federation skyscraper in Moscow City, before settling permanently in the highly guarded gated community of the Russian elite, Rublyovka. on the outskirts of the city. Sources indicate that Assad lives under strict Russian supervision, without the right to political activity or public appearances, and according to some reports, he has even decided to resume his old medical education in ophthalmology. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Although the new government in Damascus has launched mass trials against figures from the old regime and demands extradition, the Russian Federation categorically refuses to hand over Assad and his entourage to international justice