Andrey Kozlov, who was rescued by the IDF in Operation Arnon after being held in Hamas captivity feels fortunate to have survived his ordeal. Just over a month after the dramatic operation that also freed Noa Argamani, Shlomo Ziv, and Almog Meir Jan, he is calling on the public to take action so that other hostages can be as lucky as he was. "I'm certain there's only one way to bring them home. A deal. It's the safest way to save them," he says.
Video: Andrey Kozlov speaks with Israel Hayom / Credit: Erez Linn
Kozlov, who immigrated to Israel two years ago, was abducted while working as a security guard at the Nova music festival near Kibbutz Re'im. He was held in harsh conditions, often receiving only pita bread and labneh (a kind of strained cheese) once a day, and was kept with his hands bound. Every day, the guards threatened him with death.
Despite this, throughout the interview, he did not express anger or bitterness about his eight difficult months in captivity. Instead, he implored the state not to forget the remaining hostages and not to rely on military operations. "Operations might bring back more hostages, but it could take 5 or 10 more years. We need a deal," he says simply. "I was lucky. I didn't have it as bad as others. There are hostages underground who are starving. They don't know what happened to their families, or if they'll be killed or not."
He will never forget the rescue. It began like any other day in captivity. He and two other hostages were reading books – something they had been allowed to do since April. "I heard pop-pop-pop. The captors always told us, 'If they come to rescue you, we'll kill you.'" Then the soldiers arrived, shouting, "What's your name, what's your name?" "One of them spoke to me in Russian and said, 'You'll be home tonight.' I couldn't believe it and asked, 'Wow, tonight?'"
But then the real drama began. "I saw that the terrorists who had been guarding us were dead. They told us 'Run' and then 'Put on a helmet,' 'Duck,' and so on – until we reached the helicopter. I thought they might fire an RPG or a grenade at us. Even though I was scared, it was the best day of my life."
When he reached the vehicle, he met more soldiers. "Arnon Zamora was already wounded in the car," he says sadly. "There were many soldiers who shook our hands and said, 'Friends, we love you, we're going home,' and 'In three minutes we'll reach the next stage, the helicopter.' That surprised me. I thought we'd just leave Gaza by car. They told us what was happening at every stage of the operation," he recounts. "When we got to the helicopter, I saw about 20 more soldiers. They were so happy they had succeeded. They offered us Coke. I started crying, but after a few minutes, I started laughing."
He pauses for a moment as he recalls the moment he realized the nightmare was over. "I'll never forget the view from the helicopter window as we moved away and the Gaza Strip was visible from the back of the helicopter. I waved goodbye, 'Bye Gaza,'" he says, demonstrating. "I still can't believe it."
He can't stop thanking the forces that rescued him. "I'm very grateful to them for everything they did for me. I have no words to describe my feelings. I'm very thankful that they gave me a chance to live my life."
"The terrorist forced us into the car"
The moment of his abduction was no less dramatic. He had arrived on October 5 to help organize the Nova music festival. "I never imagined that after 40 hours all this would happen," he says. Between Friday and Saturday, he tried to sleep but didn't really succeed. In the morning, he woke up to the sound of rocket barrages. "We didn't understand what was happening. They told me, 'Don't worry, the army will come.'"
When he saw the festival-goers trying to leave, he noticed something was wrong. "The cars weren't moving. I realized they had fired RPG grenades at the cars, causing a traffic jam. One person came back from the jam holding an injured woman, and then after 10 minutes, hundreds of people ran into the bushes. I ran to a potato field. I saw a car with terrorists shooting and changed direction. I yelled at other cars, 'Take me.' I got in and we tried to escape, but we were surrounded."
He recounts the moments of his capture: "At one point, I hid near large containers. I saw people outside and told them to run. I decided to move when the terrorists arrived quickly, and I ran in a direction where there was no noise. People were covering their heads there. I understood from them that they had simply accepted that they would die. A person running with me disappeared, probably shot and killed. And then someone called me, 'Come here,' I was sure he was a soldier.
"The terrorist forced us into the car. The two of us were in the car with the terrorist. I noticed we were moving towards Gaza. We saw many bad people on the way, like savages. A really scary sight. The driver took us to a house where they tied our hands behind our backs. I said I was Russian and didn't understand Hebrew, but they yelled at me to shut up."
Q: Did they try to harm you when you arrived?
"They tied our hands behind our backs for two hours. After two hours, they also brought Almog. We changed locations seven times."
"There were nights when there were bombings just 50 meters from us"
When asked about his routine in captivity, he says: "There were about 30 guards. Some were good and some were bad. Some played cards and joked around, and some were really scary. Sometimes in the mornings, they would pretend to shoot us with a Kalashnikov. It was a regular joke. They told me, 'Tomorrow I'll kill you, just wait.' They told us not to talk and made a quiet sign with their finger."
Q: What was the hardest part?
"Between mid-November and mid-December, they put us in a half-finished building. They locked us up the whole month and brought food only once a day. We heard a lot of bombings. There were nights when there were bombings just 50 meters (160 feet) from us."
He says his captors made sure to tell them that Israel was not interested in returning them. "Many times they told us that Israel would kill us because we were a problem for them. They showed us that there were protests against the government and told us that the government didn't care about us." Still, hope remained in him. "I admit that I never lost hope even once. I didn't think about farewell messages to my family. We were sure we would be released after months or a year or two."
Q: What do you have to say to Hamas?
"I only have one thing to say. Hamas gave me the worst days of my life. That's all."
Q: Will you stay in Israel after everything you've been through?
"I sweat every day, but the weather is perfect, especially compared to Russia," he answers without hesitation.
