Russia urges swift release of its citizens being held in Gaza

Russia urges immediate release of its citizens being held by Hamas. The Human Rights Commissioner of Moscow, Tatyana Moskalkova, has called upon senior officials from the United Nations (UN) and other organizations to take swift action in securing the release of Russian nationals who are currently being held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Moskalkova made this appeal after meeting in Moscow with relatives of the hostages who remain in Gaza. She received detailed information about the hostages' situation, causing for concern regarding their condition. In her efforts to bring the Russian nationals back home, she has reached out to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, as well as the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric, along with other officials.

Currently, there are 120 hostages remaining in Gaza, with at least 40 of them being declared dead in absentia by Israeli authorities. Among the hostages, there are eight individuals holding Russian passports, three of whom have already been released.

In a recent operation conducted by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), one of the hostages, Andrey Kozlov, who holds dual citizenship of Israel and Russia, was successfully rescued. In May, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a terrorist group in Gaza, released a propaganda video featuring Alexander (Sasha) Trufanov, another Russian-Israeli dual national who is being held hostage in the Palestinian territory.