Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova (© The press service of the Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS)

MOSCOW, January 13. /TASS/. The Russian nationals detained in South Sudan, including Ilya Varlamov and Pyotr Verzilov, have been freed and their departure from the country is under consideration at the moment, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told TASS on Wednesday.

"As a result of our efforts, the detained Russians have been released. At the moment, the issues related to their departure from South Sudan are being considered," she said.

In the meantime, Russia’s embassy to Uganda informed TASS that the Russians would spend the night in the town of Kapoeta and on Thursday they would head to the South Sudanese capital of Juba.

Earlier, Russian blogger Ilya Varlamov wrote on his website that he had been detained in South Sudan along with Pyotr Verzilov, the Mediazona publisher and a member of the Voina art group and three other Russians. Later, Varlamov reported that they had been arrested and their phones seized.