Hamas confirmed on Wednesday afternoon the release of two Russian citizens who were among more than 240 people kidnapped during the October 7 terrorist attack in Israel. In a brief statement, the Palestinian Islamist organization that controls much of the Gaza Strip said it had released the two Russian hostages as a goodwill gesture Wladimir Putin.
“In response to the efforts of the Russian president, the Islamic resistance movement Hamas released two female hostages with Russian citizenship on Wednesday, handing them over to the Red Cross as a first step towards handing them over to representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry,” Hamas said on her Telegram channel. Is about Yelena Trupanov50 years old and his mother Irena Tati73, kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz.
The two women also have Israeli citizenship. Both were handed over to the Red Cross, it is said The Times of Israel. “The families of the hostages are being updated by IDF officials with the latest available information,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement. In principle, they will not be the only ones leaving the depths of the Gaza Strip this Wednesday. Hamas is expected to release another ten Israeli hostages this evening.
The release of these two hostages had been announced hours earlier Mousa Abu Marzouk, a prominent member of Hamas’ political bureau. “We have not released any of the Israeli men who are in Gaza, with the exception of Russian Ron Krivoy, whom we released as a sign of gratitude for Russian President Putin’s stance.” “Other Russians will be released today outside the ceasefire agreement,” he said Wednesday morning.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa, Mikhail Bogdanovhe met exactly with the Russian’s family Ron Krivoy. His relatives thanked the Russian Foreign Ministry for its help, the state news agency reported. TASS.
Putin has tried to exploit the war Israel is waging against Hamas in Gaza. After several days of silence following the attacks, he spoke out at a meeting with the Iraqi prime minister. Mohamed Shia al Sudaniin which he blamed Washington: “I think many will agree that this is a clear example of the failed Middle East policy of the United States, which has tried to monopolize the resolution process.”
At the end of October, the Russian autocrat received in Moscow a delegation of the Palestinian Islamist group led by Mousa Abu Marzouk himself. The leader, who has denied in his interviews with the BBC either The Economist that the Hamas attack killed civilians and ensured that “women, children and civilians were exempt from the attacks,” despite the images and other documentary evidence of the massacre showing the opposite, defined Russia as “a friendly country, with dem (the group) is ready to maintain consultations on various issues.
This week, dozens of relatives of still-held Russian-Israeli hostages went to the Kremlin to demand their release through negotiations that ran parallel to those brokered by Qatar, the United States and Egypt. Russia can exploit its position. It maintains good relations with Iran, Hamas’s main financial and military backer, and Qatar. Analysts claim that Putin has become more committed to the Palestinian cause, one of the issues that most mobilizes these international actors, as part of his new foreign policy focused on attracting the so-called global south.