Two former US soldiers have been captured near Kharkiv, the Daily Telegraph reports. According to the newspaper, the prisoners were Americans who arrived in Ukraine at the very beginning of the special operation, as the Russian media call it.
The newspaper, citing a colleague of the Americans, writes that 39-year-old Alexander Drucke and 27-year-old Andy Winn were arrested on Tuesday.
The two veterans from the state of Alabama, who were in Ukraine to take part in the war with Russia, have been unknown for several days and may have been captured by the Russians, BTA quoted AFP and the Associated Press as saying.
The agencies cite their relatives and members of the US Congress, who have been contacted by their relatives. They are 27-year-old Andy Tai Ngoc Win, a former Marine, and 39-year-old Alexander Drukki, who fought together against the Russians north of Kharkov.
Their relatives have not heard from them since June 8. Drucky’s mother told CNN she suggested the two had been captured, but this was not confirmed.
Two members of the US Congress, Terry Sewell and Robert Aderholt, said they were in contact with relatives of the missing Americans and the State Department.
A spokesman said the US diplomatic mission was closely monitoring the situation, in contact with Ukrainian authorities and verifying information that pro-Russian separatists had captured at least two US citizens.
If this is confirmed, it will be the first Americans fighting on the side of the Ukrainians captured since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.
White House spokesman John Kirby, in turn, urged US citizens not to go to fight in Ukraine. “This is a war zone, there is fighting. If you want to support Ukraine, you can do it in many other ways,” he said. in front of journalists.
Earlier, it was reported that foreign mercenaries Sean Piner, Aiden Aslin and Saadun Brahim had been captured. On June 9, a DNR court sentenced them to death. The DNR Ministry of Defense clarified that according to foreign humanitarian law, mercenaries are not part of the fighters.
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