On Sunday, Russian Charge D’Affairs to Libya, Jamshed Boltaev, said that the Government of National Accord (GNA) has yet to confirm reports over the release of Russian nationals detained in Libya.
Earlier today, media reports claimed that the GNA had repatriated the Russian detainees Maxim Shogali and Samer Suwifan. The interim Libyan Charge D’Affaires in Moscow, Mustafa Abu Sayed, denied the release of the detainees. Shogali, and Suwifan, employees of Russia’s Foundation for National Values Protection, were detained in the Libyan capital in May 2019. This was for allegedly trying to tamper with upcoming elections in Libya. On Saturday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that it had received written assurances from the GNA that two Russian nationals imprisoned in Tripoli, would soon be released.
Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, previously stated that the presence of Russian prisoners in Tripoli was the main obstacle to bilateral cooperation between the Kremlin and the GNA.
Oil-rich Libya has been marred in chaos since the ouster, and killing of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. It now has two rival authorities, and a multitude of militias vying for control of the country. The country’s internationally recognised government is based in Tripoli, while Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), supports a parallel administration, based in the east.