Israeli media outlets quoted local intelligence sources as saying that the unprecedented Russian media campaign against Syrian regime President Bashar Al-Assad indicates that the Kremlin is fed up and is turning against him.

Israeli Channel 12 reported yesterday that the Russian semi-official media campaign against Al-Assad could not have seen launched without instructions from President Vladimir Putin, the regime’s ultimate saviour.

The channel noted that at least ten Russian articles critical of Al-Assad’s corruption and inefficiency had been simultaneously published which would not have been done without the Kremlin’s permission.

Israeli Channel 13 added that the articles against Al-Assad are a message that Moscow is running out of patience with Al-Assad and his incompetent administration.

The two Israeli channels quoted a Russian news website as saying that “as the Syrian people drown in a quagmire of poverty, Bashar Al-Assad has secretly acquired a $30 million painting as a gift to his wife Asma Al-Assad, who is recovering from breast cancer.”

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Other Russian media reports described Al-Assad as a “weak president who is unable to confront corruption and who had lost the confidence of the financial and business circles in Syria.”

According to a poll conducted by a Russian institute, only 32 per cent of Syrians would vote for Al-Assad if general elections took place next year.

A number of Russian commentators have proposed replacing Al-Assad with a president who is more capable of running the country’s affairs, suggesting Tiger Forces Commander, Colonel Suhail Al-Hassan, who has previously received a prestigious medal from Moscow, or Ahmad Jarba, the former opposition leader who is described as the best candidate accepted by both US President Donald Trump and Putin.