Kidnapped Son Of Russia Oil Executive Freed

The 19-year-old son of Rosneft Vice President Mikhail Stavsky was kidnapped in April and media said a 50 mln euro ransom had been demanded.

The kidnapped son of a senior executive at Russian state oil giant Rosneft was freed and a suspected kidnapper detained on Thursday, Russia's prosecutor-general said.

The son of Rosneft Vice-President Mikhail Stavsky was abducted in April and media said a ransom of 50 million euros ($69.31 million) was demanded for the 19-year-old's release.

"The son of a Rosneft vice-president who was kidnapped in April... was freed this morning," a spokeswoman for the Moscow city's prosecutor's main investigation unit said.

A separate statement a few hours later said a woman from Chechnya in southern Russia had been detained in Moscow in connection with the kidnapping.

Neither statement specified whether a ransom was paid in one of the highest profile Russian kidnappings in recent years.

Sergei Kukura, the chief financial officer of Russia's No.2 oil firm LUKOIL, was kidnapped in 2002. He was released several days later, but the company and security services gave few details about the abductors and their motives.