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.
