October 7 · Personal story
Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
His parents’ home and nearby guest house in Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Current outcome
Released alive · February 15, 2025
Released alive in Israel on February 15, 2025, after 498 days in captivity.
01
A life built in Nir Oz
Alexander, known as Sasha, grew up as an only child in Kibbutz Nir Oz after his family moved from Russia. His parents were Yelena and Vitaly; his grandmother Irena later joined them in the kibbutz. He studied electrical engineering at Ben-Gurion University and worked at Amazon’s Annapurna Labs. His community remembers his love of gym training, sport and skiing. In August 2023, Sasha and his partner Sapir Cohen moved into an apartment in Ramat Gan. They returned to Nir Oz for the Simchat Torah holiday with his family.
02
A visit to his parents
Sasha and Sapir arrived in Nir Oz on October 6 and stayed in a guest house close to his parents’ home. On October 7 they were abducted separately. His mother and grandmother were also taken hostage from the kibbutz, while his father Vitaly was killed. Sasha was seriously injured during the attack. What had been a holiday visit left the family scattered across different places of captivity. Yelena and Irena would return on November 29, 2023, and Sapir the following day; Sasha remained in Gaza.
03
498 days in captivity
Sasha was held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad for 498 days. In an April 2025 report of his interview in Kfar Chabad, he described arriving bruised and isolated, with a gunshot wound to his leg, a dislocated shoulder and head trauma. He recalled danger, hunger and having little control over events. A captor who spoke English became a point of contact: Sasha asked for Arabic words and gradually built a vocabulary. He also described changes in his faith. When he could not control what happened, he began to understand that not everything depended on him.
04
Returned on February 15
Sasha was released on February 15, 2025, after 498 days in captivity. He was transferred to the Red Cross and then to Israeli forces. At the reception point in Re’im he learned that his father had been murdered on October 7. After an initial medical assessment he was flown to hospital. His return brought an embrace with Sapir, who had spent more than a year waiting for him after her own release, and a reunion with his mother. The family could finally see him again, while mourning Vitaly.
05
Writing about freedom
In an August 2025 essay, six months after his release, Sasha described feeling born again and trying to apply what captivity had taught him. He wrote about goodness, division and shared responsibility. He had hoped that October 7 would bring society closer together, and described both disappointment at continued divisions and warmth from people across different communities. He thanked those who had worked to bring the hostages home. His community later recorded that he proposed to Sapir several months after returning: they became engaged and began planning their life together.