Russia demands Hamas fulfill promise: 'We expect the release of Sasha Trupanov'

Moscow urges terror group to release hostage with Russian citizenship; 'Question of his speedy return raised during our regular contacts'; Moscow welcomes deal, saying: 'We believe agreement will contribute to establishment of independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital'

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday that Moscow "expects the release of hostage Sasha Trupanov from Gaza as part of the deal."
Russia welcomed the cease-fire and hostage release deal, and Zakharova noted that "the question of his speedy return home was raised during our regular contacts with Hamas representatives."
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סשה  טרופנוב
סשה  טרופנוב
Alex (Sasha) Trupanov
Alex (Sasha) Trupanov, 29, a dual Russian-Israeli citizen, was kidnapped on October 7 along with his mother Yelena, his grandmother Irena and his girlfriend Sapir Cohen from the family home in Kibbutz Nir Oz. The three women were released in the hostage deal in late November 2023, after 54 and 55 days in captivity. Sasha's father, Vitaly, was murdered in the Hamas massacre.
Sasha was included in the list published by the terrorist organization earlier this month under the humanitarian category, but at this time a final list of hostages expected to be released in the deal has not been published.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad has released several videos of Trupanov from captivity, the last of which was about two months ago. In the previous video, also released in November, Trupanov addressed his family and spoke about the difficulty of his long stay in captivity.
He said at the time that "for a whole year my life has been in danger. My life has been in danger mainly because of the military efforts that are supposed to free us. The only good thing they did for the prisoners was the first cease-fire." However, the things said in the videos were likely dictated by the captors as part of the psychological warfare of the terrorist organizations in Gaza.
Russia has received assurances from Hamas and wants to make sure that Trupanov is included in the current deal. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov personally spoke with the deputy head of the terrorist organization's political bureau, Mousa Abu Marzook. A few days earlier, he also spoke with the head of Hamas' political bureau abroad, Khaled Meshaal.
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שחרור החטופות מהשבי בעזה
שחרור החטופות מהשבי בעזה
Irena Tati and Yelena Trupanov released in the November 2023 hostage releases
(Photo: Reuters)
According to Russia, the Palestinians expressed their appreciation in the talks for Moscow's consistent efforts to guarantee the rights of the Palestinian people, as well as its position on the issue. The senior officials shared the Russian deputy minister's talks on a cease-fire early in the negotiations, and Bogdanov asked them to ensure Trupanov's release from captivity.
The Russian Foreign Ministry statement after the deal was reached said that "Russia praises the work of the Qatari and Egyptian mediators. Their diplomatic efforts deserve the highest appreciation and, at the final stage, representatives of the new American administration also joined the marathon of negotiations. We expect that the implementation of the current agreement will contribute to stabilizing the situation in Gaza, create conditions for the temporary return of the displaced and enable the start of reconstruction work on what was destroyed in the war. Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners will be reunited with their families, and we hope that the implementation of the agreement will be an important practical step toward long-term normalization of the Israeli-Palestinian issue, and create conditions for recovery in the entire Middle East, including in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen."
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"We believe that the agreement will contribute to the formation of the conditions required to establish a process of a comprehensive political settlement to the Palestinian problem on a recognized international legal basis," the ministry continued.
"Its ultimate goal is the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, while living in peace and security with Israel. We are convinced that there is no logical alternative to this approach, only the implementation of a two-state formula, which will be approved by the resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council, will help the people of the Middle East break the cruel cycle of violence and establish a sustainable peace."
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