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Russia Does All it Can to Free Nationals Abducted in Western Sudan

© Sputnik / Kirill Kallinikov / Go to the mediabankNews briefing of Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich
News briefing of Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich - Sputnik International
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Moscow is doing all it can to secure the release of two Russian nationals kidnapped in Sudan’s Darfur region hit by a longstanding ethnic conflict, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Thursday, adding that the men are alive.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Two employees of the Russian airline company UTair, who were working under the African Union-UN peacekeeping mission (UNAMID) in western Sudan, were abducted by unknown men in Darfur in late January.

A member of the UN-African Union mission in Darfur (UNAMID) sits on an armoured personnel carrier patrolling near the city of Nyala in Sudan's Darfur - Sputnik International
Africa
Russian Embassy Coordinating Efforts With Sudan to Release Kidnapped Pilots
“The information we have suggests that the Russian nationals are alive. To date, joint UN-African Union missions in Darfur have been set up and local authorities, response groups are persistently searching for the Russian nationals,” Alexander Lukashevich told a briefing.

The spokesman added that local Sudanese tribal leaders had also joined the search and demanded the kidnappers release the hostages. The diplomat also vowed that the rescue efforts will go on.

Two Russian men contracted by an international peacekeeping mission in Darfur were reportedly kidnapped in the town of Zalingei. UTair said that some unknown men forced them to get off a minibus they were travelling on and led them in an unknown direction.

The conflict in Darfur began in early 2003, as rebel tribes started conducting attacks against the government, accusing it of the suppression of the non-Arab population of Sudan. The United Nations estimates that some 300,000 have been killed in the standoff and millions displaced.

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