A delegation from the Palestinian terrorist movement Hamas announced today the early release of a hostage with Russian and Israeli citizenship, Alexander Trufanov, in response to the request of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“One of them, Trufanov, will certainly be released soon. He will be released even though he is a soldier,” Musa Abu Marzouk, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, told RIA Novosti.
Marzuk, who is scheduled to meet Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov in Moscow, added: “This is our gesture in response to Russia’s stance on the Palestinian issue.”
He added that the fate of Maxim Herkin, another Russian hostage from Donbas, will be decided “in a second phase,” although he qualified that “there are many details.”
"We responded to Russia's request only out of respect for President Vladimir Putin," he said.
In mid-January, Putin called for “everything possible” to be done to free Trufanov from captivity, an issue that was also discussed by telephone between Bogdanov and the Hamas leadership.
Trufanov, 29, was kidnapped in Niz Or along with his partner, his mother and his grandmother on 7 October 2023 during attacks carried out by Hamas in which his father was also killed.
Her mother and grandmother were released in late November when Israel and Hamas sealed a first truce agreement after more than a year of war in the Strip.
According to the Kremlin today, Putin will not receive the Hamas delegation, which will report to Moscow on the implementation of agreements with Israel and request humanitarian assistance to alleviate the crisis in the Gaza Strip, sources in the Palestinian terrorist movement told TASS.
Agencies contributed to this Aurora article.