No evidence ex-Syrian President Bashar Assad is opening an eye clinic in Russia

Former Syrian President Bashar Assad has fled to Moscow following the Dec. 8 fall of his government.

A claim spreading on social media says Assad, a former ophthalmologist, will again practice as an eye doctor. 

“Dr. Assad will return to ophthalmology after being deposed as president of Syria and plans to set up an eye clinic in Russia,” a screenshot of a Dec. 9 X post said. 

The Instagram post sharing it was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)

We found no evidence to corroborate this claim. 

The X post provides no source for Assad’s purported plans. 

We found no credible news organizations reporting that Assad will open an eye clinic in Russia. 

NBC News reported Dec. 10 that Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the network in an exclusive interview that al-Assad “is secured” in the country. 

“I have no idea what is going on with him right now,” Ryabkov told NBC. 

Other news outlets described Assad’s former fledgling ophthalmology career in the past tense. 

“Assad, the second son of former Syrian ruler Hafez Assad, planned to be an ophthalmologist,” USA Today said in a Dec. 9 story. “He studied in Syria and then London before his career as an eye doctor was cut short by his elder brother Bassel’s fatal car crash in 1994.” 

The Guardian described Assad on Dec. 8 as a “gawky former ophthalmologist.” 

Sky News called him a “former eye doctor.” 

None of these stories mentioned a plan for Assad to resume his ophthalmology career in Russia, or anywhere.

One publication did say Assad would again don a white doctor’s coat in Russia, but it was satire site The Onion. 

“Assad returns to Ophthalmology at Moscow LensCrafters,” the headline said. 

If evidence emerges that Assad does plan to open an eye clinic in Russia, we’ll reconsider our ruling. 

For now, it’s False.