The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has confirmed that Ukrainian citizen Anhar Kochneva, who was held hostage by Syrian rebels, is now free.
“Kochneva contacted our embassy – she is free and we expect her to
visit the Ukrainian Embassy in Damascus tomorrow,” Acting Director of
the Foreign Ministry’s Information Policy Department Yevhen Perebyinis
told Interfax-Ukraine on Monday.
However, he did not specify how the Ukrainian had been freed and whether she had really escaped from captivity.
As reported, Kochneva was abducted in Syria by rebels from the Free
Syrian Army in October 2012. The journalist’s abductors threatened to
kill her if they were not paid a $50-million ransom. In January, the
rebels told the journalist’s relatives they had agreed to reduce the
ransom to $300,000.
On January 31, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara told
reporters he had sent a request regarding EU assistance in releasing the
Ukrainians convicted in Libya and Kochneva to EU foreign policy chief
Catherine Ashton. The EU reportedly promised to facilitate the
journalist’s release.
Kochneva’s relatives, in turn, stated, referring to the Syrian
abductors, that the ministry was not negotiating her release. The
abductors agreed to discuss Ukraine’s terms and conditions, but the
Foreign Ministry was ignoring the negotiations, the relatives said.
The Foreign Ministry, in turn, stated that it was negotiating the
release of Ukrainian citizen Kochneva, who was abducted in Syria.
On March 11, Kochneva’s relative said that she had escaped from captivity on Monday and that she was in Damascus.
