Is Asma Assad dead? Claims by Russian-owned Sputnik spark speculations

Published December 29th, 2024 - 12:08 GMT
Asma Assad
A handout picture released by the official Facebook page of Syria's First Lady Asma al-Assad shows Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (C) watching on as his wife Asma casts her vote at a polling station in Maliki, a residential area in the centre of the capital Damascus, in the country's presidential elections on June 3, 2014, which are expected to give Assad a sweeping win over two little-known challengers, state television reported. (Photo by HO / Facebook / AFP)

ALBAWABA - Amid being rediagnosed with Leukemia, a type of cancer that targets blood-forming tissues and bone marrow, Asma Assad, the wife of ousted Syrian president Bashar Assad recently made headlines after Russian-owned media outlet Sputnik claimed that she has passed away. 

The claims in question were also shared on Al-Jazeera Breaking but were later debunked by a fact-checking website called "Verify-Sy" which added that there was no evidence to back any of the claims made by Sputnik. 

"Verify-Sy" took to Musk's X (formerly known as Twitter) and wrote, "A claim is being circulated that Al Jazeera quoted the Russian news agency Sputnik with a breaking news report that Asma al-Assad had died in a private hospital in Moscow. However, this claim is fabricated, as a search of both Al Jazeera and Sputnik did not yield any results to support it."

Is Asma Assad dead? Claims by Russian-owned Sputnik

On the contrary, Asma Assad allegedly asked for a divorce from her husband and has expressed her discontent with living in Moscow, Russia. Moreover, sources also claim that Asma has been recently rediagnosed with Leukemia, a type of cancer that targets blood cells and bone marrow.  

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