Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) released a video Friday showing a new sign of life from Sasha Troufanov, just hours before he is set to be freed on Saturday as part of the sixth phase of the hostage deal. Troufanov is set to be released alongside Sagui Dekel-Chen and Iair Horn who have been held by Hamas.
The video, which does not specify when it was filmed, shows Troufanov strolling along a Gaza beach and fishing. At the family's request, Ynet has not published the video.
The video appears to be aimed at portraying Troufanov as healthy, amid public outrage over the release of three malnourished hostages last week—Eli Sharabi, Or Levy and Ohad Ben Ami—following the previous phase of the deal. These hostages, along with others released earlier, testified about the severe deprivation they faced in captivity.
It should be noted that both they and previously freed hostages reported receiving significantly more food in the days leading up to their release, likely part of a deliberate display by terrorist organizations to suggest that hostages were held under better conditions.
Get the Ynetnews app on your smartphone: Google Play: https://bit.ly/4eJ37pE | Apple App Store: https://bit.ly/3ZL7iNv
Sasha, 29, from Tel Aviv, was kidnapped on October 7 along with his girlfriend, Sapir Cohen, his mother, Elena, and his grandmother, Irina, from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, where Sasha and Sapir had been visiting. Elena and Irina were released in the November 2023 prisoner exchange. Sasha’s father, Vitali, was killed in the massacre.
Sasha remains in PIJ custody, which has previously released two videos of him during captivity. In these videos, Sasha is seen speaking to the camera, presumably reading statements dictated by his captors. "I've been here for a year, a year with food and water shortages, and no electricity," he said in one of the videos.
Elena, a Sabbath observer, arrived earlier in the day at the forward reception point, where she will be reunited with her son at the Re'im camp on Saturday. She called on the people of Israel to pray for the safe return of all hostages. "Pray for their safe return, and ask for peace, tranquility, and safety for Israel and the people of Israel," she said.
Sasha also holds Russian citizenship, and throughout the war, Hamas has assured Russia that he will be freed. A young engineer at Amazon, Sasha had moved to Ramat Gan with Sapir a month before the massacre. Friends describe him as a humble, quiet person who enjoys sports and has a regular routine of meeting friends for coffee. His mother, Elena, has previously said, "I am waiting to hug my only son. He is my heart and soul. Without him, I have no life."