(Reuters) – A senior Russian diplomat urged a top official of the Palestinian movement Hamas on Monday to keep to its commitment to release a Russian hostage held by the group since its raid on Israel in October 2023.
Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov raised the issue in talks in Moscow with Musa Abu Marzuk, a member of Hamas’s Politburo, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“It was again stressed from the Russian side that it was vital to fulfil the promise expressed by the Hamas leadership concerning the release of Russian citizen A. Trufanov and others being held hostage in the Gaza Strip,” it said.
The statement also noted the “importance of continuing appropriate work in the interests of achieving inter-Palestinian unity”.
Alexander Trufanov is one of the hostages still being held in Gaza after being kidnapped from a kibbutz in the mass raid on Israeli targets on October 7, 2023.
According to Israeli news reports, Trufanov was kidnapped along with his mother, grandmother and girlfriend, while his father was killed. The rest of his family has been released, the reports said.
Hamas handed over three Israeli hostages on Saturday, and dozens of Palestinian prisoners and detainees were released in exchange, in the latest stage of a truce aimed at ending the 15-month war in Gaza.
Russia has maintained ties with all key players in the Middle East, including Israel, Iran, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Stephen Coates)
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