On Jan. 1, 2025, several media outlets including Newsweek and The Sun reported on a supposed poison attack on the exiled former president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, who resides in Russia, as of this writing.
According to The Sun, this information came from a Telegram account "supposedly run by a former top spy in Russia":
… online account General SVR — supposedly run by a former top spy in Russia — says he [al-Assad] was taken ill on Sunday.
It claims Assad, 59, asked for medical help then almost immediately began to "cough violently and choke".
The source said: "There is every reason to believe an assassination attempt was made."
Claims originating from General SVR have been credulously promoted by The Sun and other tabloids numerous times since 2022, despite the account's self-evidently dubious track record. Snopes has reported on several questionable claims leveled by General SVR.
In May 2022, for example, the account claimed that Putin had transferred power to "[an] ex-FSB [Russian foreign intelligence agency] chief" in advance of cancer surgery. In September 2022, the account claimed that Putin had survived an assassination attempt. In October 2023, the account claimed that coups were underway after Putin, now using a body double, had gone into cardiac arrest.
The only "evidence" for any of these claims — then and now — was General SVR. Olga Lautman, a senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, described the account in an X post as a "weird telegram channel that is most likely run by Russian intel and has Putin dead 10x over."
Jade McGlynn, a researcher on Russian propaganda and media, told Business Insider in January 2023 that the account's propaganda successfully infiltrates Western media because of its outlandish or oversimplified claims. Aric Toler, an open-source investigator who reports on Russian disinformation, has told his followers to discard anything the account claims.
In the case of Assad, General SVF (whose posts are translated for an audience on X as well) posted on Dec. 31, 2024, that:
Assad complained to security guards about indisposition and breathing problems and asked to call for medical help. Almost immediately after the request, he started coughing violently and began choking. Assad was given water and this helped to ease the attack a little, but his breathing still did not return to normal, and headache and abdominal pain were added. By the time the medics arrived, the condition of the former #Syria president was deteriorating.
The condition of Bashar al-Assad was promptly reported to representatives of the Russian leadership. While the medics were rendering first aid to Assad, an order was received to treat him at home if possible and not to place the "patient" in a hospital. After the first aid was rendered, the medics received "reinforcements" and a treatment room was set up in Assad's apartment.
As of [the next] evening, according to the attending doctors, Bashar al-Assad's condition is stable and he feels normal. The tests taken from the former Syrian president showed the presence of traces of exposure to poisonous substance in his body.
At the time of this reporting, the claim that Assad had been poisoned, or that he complained about feeling unwell, has no independent confirmation and is therefore unlikely to be credible.