^{Sofia Sandurskaya/Pool/AFP}

Russian President Vladimir Putin met Wednesday evening with freed hostage Sasha Troufanov at the Kremlin in Moscow, along with his mother, Elena Trufanova, and partner, Sapir Cohen, both of whom are also former captives.

“The fact that you managed to go free is the result of the fact that Russia has stable, long-term relations with the Palestinian people, with its representatives, and with a wide variety of organizations,” Putin told the ex-hostages in a video clip from the meeting published by the state-funded RT television network.

He also hailed Hamas for its “humanitarian act” of releasing them: “We need to express words of gratitude to the leadership of the political wing of Hamas for cooperating with us and carrying out this humanitarian act.”

“We will do everything to ensure that such acts happen as often as possible and that all the people who are still in the same conditions that you had been in… are also released,” Putin added, sighing deeply in response to Troupanov telling him that he was held in Gaza for 498 days.

Troufanov and Cohen were taken hostage by Palestinian terrorists from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023, along with Sasha’s mother and grandmother Irena Tati, while his father and Elana’s husband Vitaly Troufanov was murdered during the Hamas-led atrocities.

The three women were freed during a November 2023 ceasefire, with Trufanova and Tati released in a gesture to Putin, while Sasha Troufanov was returned from Gaza in February amid the multi-phase truce agreement mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt that collapsed in March.

The meeting at the Kremlin was also attended by the Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar and President of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia Alexander Boroda, according to Putin’s office, which published a video of the meeting alongside a readout with little substantial information.

Russia has ties to all key players in the Middle East, including Israel, Iran, and Lebanon, as well as the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.

Days before Troufanov’s release from Palestinian Islamic Jihad captivity in February, a deputy Russian foreign minister met with a senior Hamas official in Moscow and urged the terror group to keep “promises” to release Troufanov, a dual Russian-Israeli citizen, and Maxim Herkin, a current Israeli hostage from the Donbas area of Ukraine who has Russian relatives.

Earlier this month, Hamas released a propaganda video featuring Herkin and fellow hostage Bar Kupershtein, the first sign of life from both men since they were abducted by terrorists from the Nova music festival near Re’im.

Herkin, who was 35 at the time of his abduction, has a three-year-old daughter, and was the primary provider for his mother and 11-year-old brother. He attended the Nova festival by chance, invited by friends at the last minute. It was the first time he had gone to a rave.

In February, a top Hamas leader said that Herkin would be prioritized during the second stage of the hostage deal, if it were to be signed, as a gesture to the Russian government. However, the agreement between Israel and Hamas fell apart after its first stage, with Israel renewing the fighting in Gaza last month.

Including Herkin and Kupershtein, 24 hostages are believed to still be alive of the 59 total hostages that remain in captivity in Gaza.

Source: The Times of Israel