MOSCOW, February 27. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin is personally monitoring the issue of ensuring the release of hostages held by radical Palestinian movement Hamas, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, who also serves as special presidential envoy for the Middle East and Africa, told TASS.

"When we have such direct communication, I talk to them over the phone quite regularly. Sometimes we report this, sometimes we don’t," he said. "This is our constant concern, [which involves our] efforts and decisions. That said, this is under the personal control of the president of the Russian Federation, he met here with the leadership of our Jewish community, Berel Lazar and Alexander Boroda," the senior diplomat added.

Bogdanov noted that among the hostages there are three who hold Russian citizenship. "These are relatively young men. Yet we are also raising the issues of liberating other hostages from among the relatives of the Russian citizens, those who survived the Holocaust. And per the requests of some foreign countries, we are also discussing this with representatives from Hamas’ political wing," he stressed.