Fears Heighten As Three American Fighters Remain Missing From Ukraine
According to the US State Department, they are aware of reports that three American citizens are missing. US government officials are now saying that at least two of the three Americans who assisted Ukraine forces in their ongoing battle against Russia have been captured.
Two of the missing Americans are veterans of the US military. Two of the missing are from Alabama, Alexander Drueke, 39, and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh,27, who left Alabama earlier this month as volunteers to assist Ukrainian forces in their ongoing battle against nonstop barrages across Ukraine.
Lost Contact
The men’s family members have said they lost contact with their loved ones on June 8th, the men indicated that they were in Ukraine and actively assisting Ukrainian forces. Fears for the men’s safety are elevated due – in part – to three other foreign fighters that were captured by Russian forces and condemned to death last week. Two of those men are British and one is from Morocco. They are scheduled to be executed by a firing squad.
The White House issued a statement on Thursday, June 16th, ‘indicating that the US government is working non-stop to find out where the missing Americans are and will be trying to negotiate their release.’ The two Alabama men were embedded with fighters from France and the US. It was that unit that tweeted last week, ‘that two of their fighters were captured by Russian troops a week ago.’
Congressman Robert Aderhold of Alabama has been working with the men’s family members to find out their whereabouts. If the reports of the missing men are accurate, these would be the first Americans captured since the war started in February. Aderhold’s office issued a statement on Wednesday indicating that Mr. Huynh is a former US Marine. He said both men went to Ukraine as volunteers, so they could assist the Ukrainian people against Russian troops. Aderhold has been in contact with both families in Alabama.
According to the Congressman, .Huynh’s family last talked to him on June 8th, and he indicated to his family he was in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on that day.’ According to Huynh’s family, ‘they are receiving mixed messages from the State Department’. The US government has not officially confirmed that the US men were actually captured by Russian forces. Bunny Drueke, the mother of Alexander spoke to CBS News earlier this week. Mrs. Drueke said she ‘has not received an official notification from the state department that her son and the other men were actually captured’. However, she went on to explain that according to social media posts made by the Russian government, they confirmed that two Americans were captured from Ukraine, on the same day that the American men went missing.
Mrs Drueke said, ‘as a parent you want to keep your children safe, but she is very proud of her son for volunteering to help Ukraine in the name of democracy.’ Andy Huynh’s fiance Joy Black is also speaking out. She said that Huynh’s ‘heart was heavy as he watched the disturbing coverage of the war and felt compelled to go there and help the people of Ukraine. The Kremlin has officially denied accounts that any Americans were captured. They added however that any foreign personnel assisting Ukraine are not protected according to the rules and laws of the Geneva Convention.’
Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois said the missing men enlisted in the Ukrainian Army upon their arrival in the country. In doing so they are afforded protection under the laws governing the Geneva Convention. Kinzinger is an Air Force veteran and said ‘he will be working with the families of those missing to try to secure their release.
