Russian diplomat Mikhail Bogdanov. Photo courtesy of TASS
Hamas fighters seized about 250 captives in an October offensive on Israel, around 132 of whom Israel says remain in Gaza.
Russian diplomat Mikhail Bogdanov "stressed the need for the speedy release of civilians captured during the attacks of 7 October" in talks with Hamas senior official Musa Abu Marzouk, the foreign ministry said.
The Palestinian resistance group said in a statement that the talks were "to clarify the movement's position and policies for dealing with the file of prisoners" it was holding.
The statement added that they had also discussed securing a ceasefire in the besieged territory and Bogdanov had expressed Russia's "support of the rights of the Palestinian people".
Bogdanov also met with Israel's ambassador to Moscow Simona Halperin, the Russian foreign ministry said later.
She was "informed about the targeted efforts of the Russian diplomacy in the interests of the immediate and unconditional release of civilians, including Russian citizens, held in the Gaza strip," the ministry said in a statement.
Bogdanov also voiced Moscow's "consistent position in support of a comprehensive Middle East settlement on the basis of the decisions of the UN."
Russia has criticised Israel's war on Gaza, which enters its fourth month, and repeatedly called for the creation of a Palestinian state.
The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza says at least 24,762 Palestinians, around 70 percent of them women and children, have died during Israel's siege and invasion of the strip, and the United Nations says a quarter of the 2.3 million people trapped in Gaza are starving.
*This story was edited by Ahram Online
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