After more than a year in captivity, a Russian-Israeli man was released by the Palestinian militant organization Hamas, and Russian President Vladimir Putin visited with him and pledged to assist in the release of additional hostages.
The head of the Kremlin expressed gratitude to Hamas for the man’s release, claiming that it was due to Russia’s close ties with the Palestinian people.
Late on Wednesday, Putin said to 29-year-old Alexander Trufanov, “Thank God you are here and alive.” Trufanov claimed to have spent 498 days in captivity.
In February, Trufanov—whom Israel has named Sasha Trupanov—was freed.
His father, Vitali Trupanov, perished in the October 7 raid, but his mother, grandmother, and partner, Yelena, were all taken prisoner and freed at the war’s initial ceasefire in November 2023.
In the late 1990s, the Trupanov family left Russia for Israel.
The last name of the family is spelled Trufanov in Russian, however it is translated differently in Hebrew.
Trufanov referred to the remaining hostages as “brothers” and urged Putin to assist in securing their release.“For me, when they are there, it’s as if half my heart is still there in Gaza. While they are there, it will be quite difficult for me to go back to my normal life,” Trufanov stated during the televised meeting.
“Mr Putin, I really ask you to continue what you did for me and before (with other prisoners)… so that they can also be free and happy like I am now.”
“We will be working on this, definitely,” Putin replied.
The president told Trufanov that his release was “the result of the fact that Russia has stable, many-year relations with the Palestinian people”.
“I think it’s necessary to express words of gratitude to the leadership, to the political wing of Hamas that they acted on our request and committed this action, a humanitarian act, and released you,” Putin said.
Trufanov was released on February 15, days after a Russian deputy foreign minister urged Hamas to keep “promises” to free him.
Russia has also called for the release of Maxim Herkin, a 35-year-old Russian-Israeli citizen abducted at a music festival.
Herkin was shown alive in a video released by Hamas in April.
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