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An American held in the rear of the enemy, accused of war crimes and espionage, was rescued after being detained by Russian forces for more than a month while trying to flee Ukraine.
Dynamo Project co-founder Brian Stern, who helped Kirilo Alexandrov return safely, explained why it was the most difficult rescue so far on Thursday on Fox & Friends First.
“We did all sorts of things that were difficult and complicated during our existence,” Stern told co-host Carly Shimkus. “But this is our first accused American citizen, a victim of war crimes, falsely accused of espionage in captivity, a rescue we have ever done.”
Dynamo Project, Detroit Lions Rescue Mission of Kirillo Alexandrov May 11, 2022 with co-founder Brian Stern. (Dynamo Project)
“So when you try to say all this, it’s a complete bite in itself,” he continued. “It only leads to the complexity of the operation, which … it was a victory, but it was a difficult victory. Nothing in it was easy.”
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Michigan-born Alexandrov was captured by Russian forces when he tried to flee his home with his family near Kherson, Ukraine. He was in Russian custody for almost 40 days before reuniting with his family in Poland on Wednesday.
Dynamo Project, Detroit Lions Rescue Mission of Kirilo Alexandrov May 11, 2022 (Dynamo Project)
“When it was at its lowest, it was disgusting,” Alexandrov said. “I was facing violence, a false execution. My wife was facing violence and every day she was a threat to my family, to my village.”
“It was just awful,” he continued. “The uncertainty was terrible.”
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Stern said US negotiators had laid two lines to secure his release. One was a “unilateral rescue” and the other was talks with Russian officials.
“They were angry and surprised,” Stern said. “We had two parallel lines of effort going on at the same time. One was negotiations to secure a release and the other was a unilateral rescue. In the end, we did unilaterally.”
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“They actually called us about five hours after we already had it to continue the negotiations,” he continued. “They didn’t even know.”
The Dynamo project, a Florida-based group of veterans, has helped facilitate the evacuation of hundreds of people from Ukraine.
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