Later in the day the UN and Africa Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) also confirmed the information. On January 29, the Governor of Central Darfur State, Sudan, reported that two Russians, presumed to be working for an airline under a UN contract, were abducted by unidentified men.
In 2014 tourists from Vladivostok, Alexei Slabinsky and Yana Strizheus, who arrived in Phuket, Thailand, in the summer of 2013 lost contact on March 7, 2014 after they called friends in Primorye Territory, Russia asking to borrow $100,000, which they said was needed to settle some issues with Thai police. On March 16, Ms Strizheus was found in a hotel in Phuket, covered in blood, unconscious and with cuts on her wrists and neck.
When questioned by the police, she said that she and Alexei Slabinsky had been abducted by some acquaintances who were involved in an illegal moneylending business on the island.
In early October 2013, Konstantin Zhuravlev, a traveler from Tomsk, was kidnapped by militants in Syria. He ran a project called Alone with the Desert, and was planning to cross Syria and continue his journey across the Middle East into Egypt.
On December 17, 2012, Russian citizens Viktor Gorelov and Abdessattar Khassun, who also had a Syrian passport, were abducted by unknown men on their way from Homs to Tartus (Syria) alongside an Italian national Mario Belluomo.
On February 4, 2013, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that both Russians and the Italian had been released after a prisoner exchange with the militants.
On August 29, 2010, three Russian pilots were abducted in South Darfur in the west of Sudan: the captain and two crew members of a Badr Airlines Mi-8 helicopter, which transported food and other civilian products for UNAMID. The Russian citizens were freed after a few days.
At the end of July, a UTair Mi-8 helicopter working for the UN/AU Hybrid Mission was captured by bandits in South Darfur. The helicopter was carrying four Russian crew and five Sudanese passengers, representing the Liberation and Justice Movement rebel group. The captain of the Russian helicopter was held hostage for three days.
The Arctic Sea, a merchant vessel registered in Malta, left the Finnish port of Jakobstad (Pietarsaari) on July 22, 2009 and was expected to reach its destination, the Bejaia port in Algeria, by August 4. However, the vessel literally disappeared on July 28: radio contact was lost, and neither its owner, nor the families of the crew knew of its whereabouts.
On August 16, the frigate Ladny discovered the vessel near the Atlantic island nation Cape Verde. According to Russia's Defense Ministry, the Arctic Sea was hijacked by eight people – Estonian, Latvian, and Russian citizens, who were detained by the Russian Navy on suspicion of piracy.
On July 4, 2009, fighters from the Niger Delta Liberation Front militant group attacked the Sichem Peace chemical tanker, sailing under the flag of Singapore, 18 miles off Nigeria's cost. The militants left the vessel with six hostages. There were six foreigners among the crew: two Russians, one Ukrainian, two Filipinos, and one Indian national. The Russians were Captain Yury Shchastin and second engineering officer Viktor Koshevoy.
On July 22, the Russian embassy in Nigeria released a statement saying that the hostages had been freed.
On December 20, 2008, a settlement to the south of Nigeria's city of Ikot Abasi (Akwa Ibom state), where Rusal employees from the ALSCON plant (aluminum smelter plant in Nigeria) lived, was attacked. Two RUSAL employees were kidnapped.
On February 19, 2009, Reuters reported that the two Russians abducted in December 2008 in the Niger delta had been freed. According to the report, the Russians managed to escape from their kidnappers and spent several days in the delta before being discovered by a military patrol.
On June 3, 2007 unknown men abducted six Russian RUSAL employees working on contract in Nigeria. The attack took place in the city of Ikot Abasi, in a settlement housing workers from the ALSCON plant. During the attack, the kidnappers shot a Nigerian driver.
On August 8, four men and two women who were held hostage were freed and taken to the headquarters of Nigeria's security service.
