Russian ambassador to Israel says Hamas promised to release Russian Trufanov

The leadership of the Palestinian Hamas movement has given Russia a firm promise that its citizen Alexander Trufanov will be returned to his homeland, Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov said on January 21.

"There is a firm promise from the Hamas leadership given to the Russian side that he will be returned alive and healthy within the framework of this agreement [with Israel]," he said on the Rossiya 24 television channel.

According to the diplomat's assessment, judging by the timetable, Trufanov's release from the Gaza Strip can be expected not in the next few waves, but within 3-4 weeks.

The ambassador specified that the Russian side has information about Trufanov's injury, which was sustained during the capture, and not quite satisfactory state of his health. Viktorov expressed hope that the condition of the Russian citizen would not deteriorate before his release.

Contributing to the freeze: how the truce between Israel and Hamas will work and how long it will last

On the first day of the deal, the Palestinian movement freed three hostages

The day before, Russian President Vladimir Putin asked the Foreign Ministry to do everything for Trufanov's release. In turn, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow is working on this within the framework of the Palestinian movement's deal with Israel. Viktorov also expressed hope that the Russian citizen would soon be at liberty.

On January 19, a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip began to take effect and Hamas handed over three Israeli hostages to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Israel the next day released the first 90 Palestinian prisoners as part of the deal.

The situation in the Middle East escalated on the morning of October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a massive rocket attack from the Gaza Strip into Israel. On the same day, Israel began retaliatory strikes.