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Israel expects release of Russian citizen Trufanov held by Hamas — embassy in Russia

We very much hope that Alexander Trufanov and all remaining hostages will be added to the list of the hostages released, the Israeli diplomat said

MOSCOW, June 1. /TASS/. Israel expects that Russian national Alexander Trufanov, who got featured in a video released by the military wing of the radical Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, Saraya al-Quds, on Friday and two other Russian hostages held by Hamas will be released, Deputy Israeli Ambassador to Russia Yulia Rachinsky-Spivakov told TASS.

"We very much hope that Alexander Trufanov and all remaining hostages will be added to the list of the hostages released," the Israeli diplomat said.

On May 28, Saraya al-Quds released a video in which one of the hostages, a young man who identified himself as Alexander Trufanov, made a statement. It did not specify when the videos published by the radicals were recorded.

Commenting on the video, the Russian Embassy in Israel said: "The Russian side continues to work toward promptly returning all the citizens held in the Gaza Strip, including our compatriots Alexander Trufanov, Andrey Kozlov and Alexander Lobanov.".