Ukrainian citizens may be among the hostages being held by Hamas militants, Ukraine’s ambassador to Israel, Yevgen Korniychuky, told national broadcaster Suspilne on Oct. 13, adding that the information was preliminary and subject to confirmation.
“It is important to understand that we do not know the whereabouts of a certain number of people, and some of them may be in captivity. The Israeli [security] services have informed us of this, but it’s not yet confirmed information. I urge you not to make a fuss, but most likely, this corresponds to reality,” Korniychuk said, mentioning that Ukrainian diplomats are in close contact with the Israeli police searching for Ukrainians.
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“We are constantly looking for people, using DNA [samples] and fingerprint identification. The police help us find new people.”
Seven Ukrainians were reported killed in the attack by Hamas militants, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry announced on Oct. 12. At the same time, nine were reported missing, with another nine reported as injured.
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Korniychuk does not expect the number of Ukrainian victims to change significantly.
Of the seven confirmed dead, only one person had a Ukrainian passport.
“This means that the other six were permanent residents of Israel and also had Israeli passports. This in no way diminishes their rights as Ukrainian citizens in any way. It’s just for your understanding that, unfortunately, one female visitor was killed. The rest were local residents,” Korniychuk explained.
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