Russian officials have been forced to issue a statement after reports emerged suggesting the wife of ousted Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad was seeking a divorce.

"No, they do not correspond to reality," Kremlin spokesman Peskov tells reporters on media reports about UK-born Asma, who reportedly wants to file for divorce from ousted Syrian regime leader Bashar

Asma al-Assad was born to Syrian parents but grew up in London before moving to Syria in 2000, the same year Bashar al-Assad became president. Dubbed the "Rose in the Desert" by Vogue in 2011, she "quickly became an international pariah as she stood by her husband" during the atrocities of the civil war, said The Telegraph.