A Russian state TV channel on Friday aired videos on social media of two Americans who went missing last week while fighting alongside the Ukrainian army, with the broadcaster saying they had been captured by Russian forces.
US President Joe Biden earlier in the day said that he did not know the whereabouts of Alexander Drueke and Andy Huynh, two US military veterans whose relatives lost contact with them.
The missing Americans — including a third identified as a former US Marines Corps captain — are believed to be part of an unknown number of mostly military veterans who have joined other foreigners to volunteer alongside Ukrainian troops.
Photo: AP
Russian journalist Roman Kosarev — who works with RT — posted a video on messaging platform Telegram of Drueke speaking facing the camera.
“Mom, I just want to let you know that I’m alive and I hope to be back home as soon as I can be,” said Drueke, who was seated in what appeared to be an office and dressed in military fatigues.
“Love Diesel for me, love you,” he said, concluding his brief video with a quick wink.
Photo: AP
Reports in the US said that Diesel was Drueke’s dog.
RT’s official Telegram channel also posted an interview with Huynh in which he said that the duo had been “engaged in combat with Russian troops” near Ukraine’s flashpoint Kharkiv area.
After the pair retreated and hid for hours, they surrendered themselves to Russian troops, Huynh said.
The pair were also filmed in separate RT videos — directly facing a camera angled from above — saying: “I’m against the war” in poor Russian.
The circumstances under which the two men were speaking were not fully clear, nor who was holding them.
A US Department of State spokesperson yesterday confirmed that US authorities had seen the photographs and videos of the two US citizens “reportedly captured by Russia’s military forces in Ukraine.”
“We are closely monitoring the situation and our hearts go out to their families during this difficult time,” the spokesperson told reporters.
Drueke’s mother, Lois, had told CNN on Thursday that her son went to Ukraine after discussing it with her for about a month.
“I want everyone to know ... we don’t want one to come home without the other. They were best buddies there and we want everybody to remember it’s not just one person there,” she said.
Huynh’s fiance, Joy Black, said in the same interview that she last heard from him on Wednesday last week.
“He told me he loved me very much and that he would be unavailable for two, three days... He was trying not to worry me,” Black said, in tears.
“I just want to see him back safely,” she said.
During a White House briefing on Friday, Biden urged US citizens not to go to Ukraine.
“Americans should not be going to Ukraine now,” Biden said.
“I’ll say it again: Americans should not be going to Ukraine,” he added.
The Russian proxy authorities in the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, a Moscow-controlled swath of eastern Ukraine, have sentenced to death two British men and a Moroccan captured earlier in fighting.
FIVE-YEAR WINDOW? A defense institute CEO said a timeline for a potential Chinese invasion was based on expected ‘tough measures’ when Xi Jinping seeks a new term Most Taiwanese are willing to defend the nation against a Chinese attack, but the majority believe Beijing is unlikely to invade within the next five years, a poll showed yesterday. The poll carried out last month was commissioned by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei-based think tank, and released ahead of Double Ten National Day today, when President William Lai (賴清德) is to deliver a speech. China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and has held three rounds of war games in the past two years. CIA Director William Burns last year said that Chinese President Xi Jinping
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that China has “no right to represent Taiwan,” but stressed that the nation was willing to work with Beijing on issues of mutual interest. “The Republic of China has already put down roots in Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu,” Lai said in his first Double Ten National Day address outside the Presidential Office Building in Taipei. “And the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China [PRC] are not subordinate to each other.” “The People’s Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan,” he said at the event marking the 113th National Day of
REACTION TO LAI: A former US official said William Lai took a step toward stability with his National Day speech and the question was how Beijing would respond US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday warned China against taking any “provocative” action on Taiwan after Beijing’s reaction to President William Lai’s (賴清德) speech on Double Ten National Day on Thursday. Blinken, speaking in Laos after an ASEAN East Asia Summit, called the speech by Lai, in which he vowed to “resist annexation,” a “regular exercise.” “China should not use it in any fashion as a pretext for provocative actions,” Blinken told reporters. “On the contrary, we want to reinforce — and many other countries want to reinforce — the imperative of preserving the status quo, and neither party taking any
SPEECH IMPEDIMENT? The state department said that using routine celebrations or public remarks as a pretext for provocation would undermine peace and stability Beijing’s expected use of President William Lai’s (賴清德) Double Ten National Day speech today as a pretext for provocative measures would undermine peace and stability, the US Department of State said on Tuesday. Taiwanese officials have said that China is likely to launch military drills near Taiwan in response to Lai’s speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims. A state department spokesperson said it could not speculate on what China would or would not do. “However, it is worth emphasizing that using routine annual celebrations or public remarks as a pretext or excuse for provocative or coercive
RSS