A traveler was returned to Russia, who spent three years captive in Syria

The Russian traveler Konstantin Zhuravlev was returned to Russia, who spent three years captive in Syria, reports Interfax with reference to the FSB of the Russian Federation.

Konstantin Zhuravlev was captured in October 2013. He was driving a hitchhiking from Turkey through Syria to Sahara. Almost immediately after entering Syria, he was captured by the group, which is fighting against the government forces of Bashar al -Assad.

Zhuravlev was transferred several times from one group to another. They tried to exchange it, but to no avail. The militants did not believe that Zhuravlev was a simple traveler, and called him a spy.

How he managed to return to Russia, the FSB was not told.

• In December 2014, militants of the Islamic State terrorist organization executed Russian Sergei Gorbunov in Syria . The Russian Foreign Ministry denied information about the existence of Gorbunov, although terrorists published his video message. A year later, the “Islamic state” executed the “Russian spy”, Chechen Magomed Khasiev.