Russians, Ukrainian, Belarusians released from captivity in Libya, go home - Foreign Ministry
MOSCOW. Oct 7 (Interfax) - Citizens of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine captured in Libya in 2011 have been released and returned to their home countries, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"All of the Russian citizens have returned to their home country and they are in good health. The same is true of the citizens of Belarus and Ukraine for whom we have been fighting no less persistently than for our fellow countrymen," a report posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry website on Tuesday quoted ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich as saying.
According to the diplomat, "The situation of the Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian citizens detained in Libya in 2011 has been the focus of our keen attention from the very first day. All necessary measures were taken to secure their release and various channels were used."
"It should be clear that our intensive and purposeful work started at the very beginning [of the situation] was not made public because the delicacy of our steps and the complexity and hazardousness of the situation in Libya. First and foremost, this was done to avoid harm to the captured citizens of the three countries," Lukashevich said.
"An end result of the efforts, including "quiet diplomacy", has always been more important to us than the possibility of gaining political points in public," he pointed out.