The phone book that led us to Assad's spy chief in hiding

For months we drew a blank in our hunt for Luka. Then we had our first breakthrough. One of those listed in the book, whom we tried calling again, eventually answered the phone. He said he had been the defender for Luka's apartment block and agreed to give us the number for someone he said had been Luka's personal bodyguard—a man we are calling Mahmoud. It took weeks to secure an interview with Mahmoud. Meetings would be scheduled but he would not show up, or he would request a meeting in a private setting such as a car or apartment, which our reporter judged too risky. They finally met at a hotel one night, just before midnight. Broad‑shouldered and physically imposing, Mahmoud appeared to consider each reply carefully before speaking. He told us he was aggravated with Luka for leaving him behind when the authorities collapsed. As fighting had dispersed in December 2024 that Assad's regime was on the brink of collapse—with rebels advancing on the capital—Luka had said he would stay and defend Damascus, Mahmoud told us. But by the early hours of the following morning, Luka had disappeared, taking a large sum of money with him from the office safe, Mahmoud said. Mahmoud refused to share any contact details for Luka or his family, but did give us a number for Luka's driver, whom he believed had driven the former spy chief out of the capital that night. That man proved even harder to reach. When he answered the phone, his voice was tense and unsteady. He repeatedly insisted he was just a driver and knew nothing of Luka's activities. Multiple meetings with us were never kept, and eventually he stopped responding. We turned our attention to Luka's possible flight routes, including neighboring Lebanon—where the Iran‑backed group Hezbollah had close ties with the Assad regime. One senior source in the Lebanese authorities told us he understood Luka had passed through Lebanon on a "good Russian passport but with a different name" before flying out to Russia. We managed to locate a man, now based in Lebanon, whose name appeared in Luka's contacts book but under a phone number that no longer works. He is one of many wanted by the current Syrian government because of his close association with the Assad regime. This man, whom we cannot identify, said he had a number for Luka. We saw it, and realized it had a Russian country code. Russia was a key backer of the Assad regime, and in the days after his fall, Assad released a statement confirming that he had fled there. Many of his inner circle were believed to have followed him. Back in Luka's flat in Damascus, we had uncovered clues that Luka also had strong links to Moscow—awards from Russia's foreign intelligence service and even a New Year's card addressed to him from a senior Russian official. Now, the Russian telephone number for him suggested we finally had proof that he was—just as we had predicted—in Russia.