The involvement of the Russian president saved the life of Maxim Kharkin, his mother has told TASS<\/p>\n
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s personal efforts, along with those of Moscow’s diplomats, helped save the life of Israeli hostage Maxim Kharkin, his mother Natalia has told TASS. Kharkin was among 20 living Israeli hostages that were released by Hamas on Monday in exchange for approximately 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
\nNatalia, a resident of Donetsk, said that she wants to go to Moscow to personally thank the Russian president for the role he played in saving her son.
\n\u201cWe want to come and we want to see Vladimir Putin very much. To thank him for everything he has done because it helped Maxim survive,\u201d she told TASS. The woman also praised the work of the Russian consulate in Israel that provided extensive assistance to Kharkin\u2019s family.
\nWhile no such meeting has been planned so far, Moscow still \u201cshares the common joy that Kharkin is free,\u201d Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.
\nMaxim, 37, was born in the city of Donetsk before moving to Israel at the age of 17. His mother Natalia is a Russian national. He was abducted during the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel, while attending the Nova Music Festival, an all-night event held near the Gaza border.<\/p>\n
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Russian citizen among hostages released by Hamas<\/p>\n
His family then sought Russian citizenship for him in a bid to secure Moscow\u2019s assistance in his release. Russian diplomats raised the issue of his release with Hamas, including during a March meeting between Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and the militant group\u2019s senior officials in Qatar. The former hostage now plans to get a Russian passport, according to his mother.
\nRussian diplomats previously helped secure the release of dual Russian-Israeli citizen Aleksander Trufanov.
\nIn January, Putin tasked the Foreign Ministry and other relevant government agencies \u201cto do everything\u201d to make that happen. The next day, Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov revealed that Hamas had assured Moscow of Trufanov\u2019s imminent release.
\nRussia has kept ties with Hamas and other regional actors, positioning itself as a mediator. Moscow maintains that a two-state solution is the only way to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The involvement of the Russian president saved the life of Maxim Kharkin, his mother has told TASS Russian President Vladimir Putin’s personal efforts, along with those of Moscow’s diplomats, helped…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20377,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t