The Russians work for UTair airline which works with the U.N.-African Union peacekeeping mission
(Adds Russian Foreign Ministry, Investigative Committee)
KHARTOUM/MOSCOW, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Gunmen in Sudan's Darfur region have kidnapped two Russians working for UTair, an airline contracted by the international peacekeeping mission there, officials said on Tuesday.
The Sudanese government dismissed the possibility of a ransom payment for their freedom.
UTair said two of its employees had been seized in the town of Zalingei last Thursday when a UNAMID (U.N.-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur) minibus was blocked by six cars.
"The passengers were forced to get off the minibus at gunpoint and led off in an unknown direction," the company said in a statement.
The hostage-takers had not yet made any demands, it added.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said the two workers of UTair ground service were not harmed in the kidnapping and that it was working to secure their release.
Russia's federal Investigative Committee said the two were a manager and a technician with UTair.
Sudan's foreign ministry said the kidnapping was not a political act.
"We condemn this kidnapping and we assure you that we will not succumb to the blackmail by paying a ransom. We have a consistent policy on this," Minister of State Kamal al-Din Ismail told a news conference.
However government officials who requested anonymity said that Sudan has facilitated ransom payments for kidnapped foreigners in the past.
A UTair helicopter with the U.N. mission in neighbouring South Sudan (UNMISS) was shot down last year and three of its crew were killed.
UTair operates domestic and international passenger flights, helicopter services and charter flights. (Reporting by Shadi Bushra, Gabriela Baczynska, Gleb Stolyarov, Omar Fahmy and Polina Devitt, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
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