Russian envoy says hostage Sasha Trufanov ‘not entirely healthy,’ will likely be freed in next few weeks

Amy Spiro is a reporter and writer with The Times of Israel

Hostage Sasha Trufanov in a video released by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group on November 13, 2024. (Screengrab)
Hostage Sasha Trufanov in a video released by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group on November 13, 2024. (Screengrab)

Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov claims that Russian-Israeli hostage Sasha Trufanov will be released from Gaza in the next few weeks and that he is “not entirely healthy,” but stable.

“Simple mathematics suggests, unfortunately, that we are not talking about the next waves of hostage releases, but within 3-4 weeks, judging by the schedule, he will be released,” Viktorov says on the Russia 24 TV station, according to the state-run TASS wire agency.

Trufanov, 28, was kidnapped on October 7, 2023, from Kibbutz Nir Oz, alongside his mother, grandmother and girlfriend, while his father was murdered. The rest of his family was released in November 2023, and Trufanov has since been seen in two propaganda videos released by Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

The dual Russian-Israeli citizen is on the list of the 33 hostages slated to be freed during the six-week first stage of the ceasefire, which includes those considered in the “humanitarian” category — women, children, the elderly and wounded. The expectation is that the women and elderly will be freed in the earlier stages, and the final 14 hostages will be freed only on the 42nd day.

Viktorov says that “unfortunately, there is information that [Trufanov] was injured and his state of health is not entirely satisfactory. We hope that for the remaining few days, his health will not deteriorate.”

The ambassador suggests that Trufanov was wounded during his abduction, but says that Hamas has made a “firm promise” to Moscow that he will be returned “alive and healthy” to Israel.

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