Freed IRCC workers coming home

International Red Cross Committee members Musa Satushiyev and Alexander Panov, recently freed from terrorist captivity, will return on Monday to Nalchik (the capital of the Kabardin-Balkar Republic).

During the hostage rescue operation, the kidnappers were not apprehended because it might have put the lives of hostages in danger. However, the identities of the criminals and their handlers are known. Presently, the police is searching for the perpetrators. The freed hostages are in good condition.

Musa Satushiyev and Alexander Panov told journalists that the kidnappers didn't put forward any demands or ask for a ransom. Only once they said that they wanted to exchange the hostages for a terrorist convicted in Pyatigorsk (Stavropol region in the south of Russia), but never mentioned his name.

Satushiyev and Panov expressed their hopes to continue working for the Red Cross delivering humanitarian aid to Chechnya.