U.S. citizens Alexander John-Robert Drucke, 39, from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Andy Tai Ngoc Huyn, 27, from Hartsel, Alabama, were interviewed by Russia’s RT channel at a detention center in the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). On Friday, according to a report published on RT.
The two Americans disappeared on June 9 during a battle north of Kharkov, and there were fears that they might be captured by Russian forces, according to their families and an ally.
Short videos showing men detained at an unknown location appeared on pro-Russian channels and social media on Friday. It was not clear then who was holding them.
A State Department spokesman told CNN on Friday that they had “seen photos and videos of the two US citizens reportedly captured by Russian forces in Ukraine” and “are closely monitoring the situation”.
“We are in contact with the Ukrainian authorities, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the families themselves,” they continued. “For privacy reasons, we have no further comment on these cases.”
Separately, a more than 50-minute edited video was published on Saturday, in which Drucke and Huyn were interviewed by HelmCast, a pro-Russian Serbian nationalist YouTube channel.
In the interview, one can hear a man behind the camera revealing the location of their interview when he said “here in Donetsk” during a question to Druke.
Drucke was also asked in an interview if he had any objections to how he was treated after his capture, and he revealed that he had been beaten.
CNN chooses not to broadcast videos of American detainees because they show men talking under duress.
About development
The location of Drueke and Huynh’s detention is a potentially worrying development. Russia has a moratorium on the death penalty, while Donetsk is using shooting squadrons to execute convicted prisoners, according to Russian state media RIA Novosti.
On June 9, a DNR court sentenced foreign fighters, two British citizens and a Moroccan citizen to death after accusing them of being “mercenaries” for Ukraine. The internationally unrecognized court in the DNR said the men have one month to appeal their sentences.
Hopes that a prisoner exchange between Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists could release all foreign fighters detained in Donetsk appear to have been dashed after Denis Pushilin, the self-proclaimed leader of the DNR, said such exchanges could not occur.
“The exchange of British people sentenced to death in the DNR is not being discussed, there is no reason to pardon them,” Pushilin told Russia’s independent investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta on Thursday.
The Donetsk People’s Republic did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the detention of Drueke and Huynh.
A former serviceman describes a battle
Speaking exclusively to CNN’s Sam Keeley, a former US serviceman fighting Ukrainian forces, he described the battle he witnessed on June 9, when Huyn and Drucke were allegedly captured.
The man, who asked to be identified by the code name “Pip”, said his team had been sent on a mission east of Kharkov, where a full-scale Russian armored attack was under way.
Huynh and Drueke fired an RPG at BMP – an infantry fighting machine – that was coming through the woods and destroyed it, according to Pip. But the team had to withdraw quickly as more than 100 Russian infantry began advancing and American fighters found themselves in a village they previously thought was in Ukrainian hands.
Asked what happened to Huynh and Drueke, Pip said that “we suspect they were knocked out either by a T-72 tank firing at them or by a mine explosion. It’s just a guess, we don’t know what it really happened to them. ”
Separately, a man who acted as a team sergeant and wished to remain anonymous for security reasons told CNN earlier that it was “absolute chaos.”
“There were about a hundred infantry advancing on our positions. We had a T-72 firing at people from 30 to 40 meters,” he said.
A photo of the two men appeared Thursday with their hands tied behind them and in the back of a Russian truck. The undated photo was published in Telegram on Thursday by a Russian blogger. CNN could not independently verify when the photo was taken.
The third American is missing
A third American, whom the State Department said disappeared in action in Ukraine, has been identified as a U.S. Marine Corps veteran Grady Kurpasi, his wife confirmed to CNN on Thursday.
The last time Heisson Kim and other close friends heard about Kurpasi was between April 23 and 24, George Heath, a family friend of Kurpasi, told CNN. Kurpasi served in the U.S. Marine Corps for 20 years, retiring in November 2021. He chose to volunteer with Ukrainians in Ukraine, but initially did not envisage fighting on the front lines of the war, Heath said. .
On Friday, US President Joe Biden said he had been informed of the three Americans missing in Ukraine. Speaking to reporters, Biden has repeatedly said that Americans should not travel to Ukraine at the moment.
“We don’t know where they are, but I want to repeat: Americans shouldn’t go to Ukraine now,” Biden said in response to a question from CNN’s MJ Lee at the White House.
CNN’s Sarah El Sirgani, Maya-Lisa Ellinger, Eli Kaufman, Michael Conte, Jennifer Hansler, Kate Sullivan and Mick Crever contributed to the report.
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