MOSCOW, November 27. /TASS/. Moscow will continue its efforts to ensure the release of the remaining Russian nationals held captive by radical Palestinian movement Hamas, Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov said.

"We will continue our efforts. As for our fellow citizens, there are several more of them [among the hostages held by Hamas],"he told the Rossiya-24 TV channel.

"There is some hope that they will be released in the near future,"the diplomat noted. According to Viktorov, Russia will now take measures to verify information on the specific individuals being held.

Taher al-Nunu, spokesman for Hamas Political Bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh, told TASS earlier that the movement had freed a hostage with Russian citizenship, handing him over to members of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, in turn, confirmed to TASS that the Russian, named Ron Krivoy, had been released under a separate deal via efforts that Russian diplomats had made through contacting Hamas.

Russian Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa Mikhail Bogdanov told TASS in late October that Hamas officials had promised to respond to Moscow’s request to release eight Russian hostages.

Hamas announced on November 22 that an agreement on a four-day humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip had been reached with Israel through the mediation of Qatar and Egypt. The ceasefire took effect at 7:00 a.m. local time (5:00 a.m. GMT) on November 24. The agreement stipulates the release of 50 women, children and teenagers under the age of 19 who are being held in Gaza in exchange for the release of 150 women and teenagers under the age of 19 from Israeli prisons.