Longer apart than together: Hamas hostage is reunited with his ‘hero’ air hostess girlfriend who spent eight months campaigning for his freedom – having dated him for just weeks

A rescued hostage held by Hamas For 245 days he was shocked when he saw the Israeli flight attendant with whom he had only been dating for two months, waiting for him home.

Jennifer Masters, 32, stood by 27-year-old Andrey Kozlov for eight months and even helped his Russian mother learn Hebrew as they fought side by side for him.

But she warned he has returned a “changed man” after being held in handcuffs for weeks and forced to eat and drink with his hands tied behind his back.

Andrey has told how the terrorists tried to convert him to Islam by making him read the Quran every day, while taunting him that he would never leave.

Guards cruelly forced him to draw a picture of his mother, Evgeniia Kozlova, whose face he could not remember for so long while he was held captive in Gaza.

But on Saturday, Andrey was rescued in a daring attack by the special forces, along with 26-year-old Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, 21, and Shlomi Ziv, 40.

Andrey Kozlov, liberated from Gaza a day earlier during an Israeli military operation, reunites with girlfriend Jennifer Masters, 32

Andrey Kozlov (C), liberated from Gaza a day earlier during an Israeli military operation, meets his parents Mikhail Kozlov, 52, Evgeniia Kozlova, 52, brother Dima Kozlov, 17 and girlfriend Jennifer Masters, 32

Kozlov communicates with family and friends for the first time after his release

Girlfriend and family of Andrei Kozlov, who was liberated from Gaza during an Israeli military operation

Andrey has told how the terrorists tried to convert him to Islam by making him read the Quran every day

A photo of Kozlov wearing Miss Masters lipstick and decorated with the word ‘Home’ and a drawing of a heart

The Russian sous chef could hardly believe his eyes when he was reunited with Miss Masters at the Sheba Medical Center, near Tel Aviv.

“He was very surprised,” laughs Miss Masters, a flight attendant from Israeli airline El Al, who was visiting Andrey with his brother Dima, 17.

‘He was sitting on the bed and I was the first to meet him. He just fell to the ground crying. I grabbed his brother and we’re just hugging and squeezing him.

“He said, ‘I was worried you were already dating someone else.’ He said it twice: “I thought you had moved on.”

Miss Masters matched with Andrey on Bumble last August and the amateur surfer and DJ immediately won her over with his ‘good heart’.

“He is a very gentle, honest person,” she told the Daily Mail in Tel Aviv.

“He was always there for me, that’s why I loved him.”

But their budding romance was shattered when Hamas terrorists stormed the Nova festival, where he worked as a security guard.

Miss Masters was forced to call his parents in St Petersburg, who had no idea who she was, and tell them she feared their son had been murdered or kidnapped.

Andrey had moved to Israel only a year earlier and had few friends, but his girlfriend stepped up to lead his campaign.

“She’s a hero,” Dima said. His father, Mikhail, added: “She is one of the happiest things. She responded to our tragedy – we are endlessly grateful.”

Miss Masters helped Ms Kozlova, 52, a computer analyst, fly to Tel Aviv and move into Andrey’s room and together they fought to bring him back.

Kozlov can be seen in this photo of his family

Jennifer Masters writes on a poster of Kozlov after his release

Kozlov’s family can be seen in this image

Miss Masters matched with Andrey on Bumble last August and the amateur surfer and DJ immediately convinced her with his ‘good heart’

Kozlov is a DJ and amateur surfer

“I didn’t know what to say to her,” Miss Masters said when she met the mother for the first time. ‘I just said: Evgeniia, anything you want, I’m here for you. Everything.’

Only after three weeks did the IDF discover that Andrey had been kidnapped – but they did not know whether he was alive or dead. The first sign of life came in January.

The two women traveled the world taking his case to governments in Israel, Europe, Russia and America before finally, last Saturday, the miracle happened.

“I was just screaming,” Miss Masters said when she got the call to say Andrey had been rescued. ‘Now I can’t sleep. “I’ve been waiting eight months to see Andrey and all I want to do is stare at him.”

Ms. Kozlova, who was lobbying in Russia at the time for his return, boarded the next flight to Tel Aviv with Mr. Kozlov, 52, an economist.

Emotional footage shows Andrey falling to the ground in tears, hugging and kissing his mother’s feet as she arrived at hospital last Sunday.

“I didn’t even know what to do,” Ms. Kozlova told the Daily Mail. ‘I just wanted to cuddle him and calm him down. I wanted him to laugh with me.”

But after the first reunion, Andrey begins to open up about his ordeal. “He spent two months in captivity with his arms and legs tied,” Ms Kozlova said.

‘If your hands are tied behind you, it is very difficult to eat. I don’t know how he would eat or drink or go to the toilet, we didn’t have time to really ask everything.

“He said it was such a relief when his hands, which had been tied behind his back, were finally tied in front of his body. It was such a happy moment.

“He talked about it cheerfully, but he also told us there were things he would never tell us about.”

Family of Andrei Kozlov, who was liberated from Gaza during an Israeli military operation, hold his hostage poster after he returned

Miss Masters is seen holding Kozlov’s photo

A photo of Andrei Kozlov can be seen among other posters of hostages taken by Hamas on October 7

Ms. Masters agreed. “He told me very bad things,” she said. ‘The terrorists forced him to sign his mother.

“He said, ‘I don’t want to,’ because he couldn’t really remember every feature because he hadn’t seen her for a long time.

“They said, ‘Do you want punishment?’ Would you like to go to the toilet for an hour?” He said, ‘No, no. No punishment. Okay, I’ll do it,’ ‘and he did it and he cried.’

They also tried to convert him to Islam and taught him Arabic, but “it didn’t work” because he “doesn’t believe in God.”

Every day he wrote “a new day” in a diary to try to stay sane and derive pleasure from cursing his tormentors in Russian – a language they did not understand.

Andrey, who was held together with Almog and Shlomi the entire time, was eventually allowed to play cards with his fellow hostages.

But while some kidnappers participated in the games, others were cruel. “They would make fun of them and abuse them,” Miss Masters said.

“It was terrible – and it changed him,” Miss Masters said. ‘He’s much more sensitive. He cries a lot. I don’t know this Andrey. Andrey never cried.

‘We were only dating for two months, but he was a very quiet man and he really had his center – and now he’s just breaking everything.’

As his recovery begins, the families agree that despite the success of the mission, a deal must be reached for the 120 who remain.

“What has happened to us is very fortunate,” said Miss Masters. “My message to the government is that we must reach a hostage agreement.”