(CNN) -- Three Russian pilots working for a Sudanese aviation company who were abducted in the Darfur region have been released, a Russian embassy spokesman said Tuesday.
"We received confirmation from the government of Sudan that our people that were kidnapped in Nyala were released," spokesman Evgeny Arzhantsev said.
The pilots were abducted Sunday in Nyala, which is the capital of the southern Darfur region.
Thirteen people have been abducted in Darfur this year, Chris Cycmanick, spokesman for the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur.
The mission had seven of its personnel taken hostage earlier this year, but all were safely released, Cycmanick said.
The United Nations has extended its mission in Darfur for another year, despite a report released at the end of July that painted a grim picture of the security situation there. It found that violence in the region has increased over the previous year.
May 2010 was the deadliest month in Darfur since the U.N. mission deployed there in 2007. CNN
