US veterans Alexander D. (39) and Andy H. (27) have been missing in Ukraine since June 9. On Friday evening (June 17), the Russian state broadcaster RT presented the two in public.
This ensures that the men were captured. There is no information yet on the circumstances under which they were filmed.
︎ RT employee Roman Kosarev published a video on the Messenger service Telegram in which the former US soldier Alexander D. addresses his mother. Apparently from an office, he says to the camera, “Mom, I just wanted to let you know that I’m alive and hope to be home as soon as possible.”
Photo: LOIS DRUEKE/via REUTERS-” data-zoom-src=”https://bilder.bild.de/fotos/alexander-drueke-mit-seiner-mutter-das-foto-erstand-ende-maerz-1cb8107dd67b411bae62ee640f3b8c3c-80437556/Bild/11.bild. jpeg”/>
Alexander D. with his mother. The photo was taken at the end of March Photo: LOIS DRUEKE/via REUTERS
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︎ A video interview with US veteran Andy H. was shown on RT’s official Telegram channel. In it, the American says that he and Alexander D. were “involved in fighting with Russian troops” in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine.
︎ In other videos from RT, Alexander and Andy are filmed saying in broken Russian: “I am against the war.”
The two Ukraine supporters are now also prisoners of war in Putin’s propaganda machine. One can only guess how the pro-Russian statements in the interviews came about.
Andy H. also had to speak to the Kremlin-affiliated newspaper “Isvestia”. He believed Western “propaganda” about the “bad Russians” and that’s why he went to war, he says in an interview that the paper published on its Telegram channel on Thursday. The US veteran: “The Western media doesn’t tell us how incompetent and corrupt the Ukrainian army is.”
Alexander and Andy used to be in the US Army. Alexander had volunteered after the September 11 attacks and became a convoy gunner in Iraq. Andy served in an elite Marine unit for four years but had no combat experience.
The two are said to have fought as volunteers alongside the Ukrainian army. Andy said in the video released by RT that he and Alexander retreated during the skirmishes in the Kharkiv region and hid for several hours before finally surrendering to the Russian army.
<img class="photo ondemand zoomable" src="https://bilder.bild.de/fotos-skaliert/mitglieder-einer-auslaendischen-freiwilligeneinheit-der-ukrainischen-armee-praesident-wolodymyr-selens-57ec9d83cea74c3cafc8cf877cc20bc0-80437688/11,w=1280,c=0.bild.jpg" width="1280" alt="Mitglieder einer ausländischen Freiwilligeneinheit der ukrainischen Armee. Präsident Wolodymyr Selenskyj zufolge sollen rund 20 000 ausländische Kämpfer die Ukraine" data-zoom-title="Mitglieder einer ausländischen Freiwilligeneinheit der ukrainischen Armee. Präsident Wolodymyr Selenskyj zufolge sollen rund 20 000 ausländische Kämpfer angeschlossen haben
Members of a foreign volunteer unit of the Ukrainian army. According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, around 20,000 foreign fighters are said to have joinedPhoto: SERHII NUZHNENKO / REUTERS
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It is unclear who is holding the Americans and what threatens them. Troops of the pro-Russian separatists from the self-proclaimed people’s republics of Donetsk and Luhansk are also fighting on Russia’s side. They have already sentenced three foreigners from the ranks of the Ukrainian army – two Britons and one Moroccan – to death in a show trial. In Russia, on the other hand, the death penalty is suspended.
<img class="photo ondemand zoomable" src="https://bilder.bild.de/fotos-skaliert/der-brite-aiden-aslin-der-marrokaner-saaudun-brahim-und-der-brite-shaun-pinner-wurden-in-der-volksr-d489bf79199a4a3fa7632814887c15dd-80437214/11,w=1280,c=0.bild.jpg" width="1280" alt="Der Brite Aiden Aslin, der Marrokaner Saaudun Brahim und der Brite Shaun Pinner wurden in der „Volksrepublik Donezk“ zum Tode verurteilt" data-zoom-title="Der Brite Aiden Aslin, der Marrokaner Saaudun Brahim und der Brite Shaun Pinner wurden in der „Volksrepublik Donezk“ zum Tode verurteilt
Briton Aiden Aslin, Moroccan Saaudun Brahim and Briton Shaun Pinner were sentenced to death in the “Donetsk People’s Republic”.Photo: IMAGO/SNA
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A US State Department spokesman said Saturday (June 18) that US authorities had seen photos and videos of the two US citizens who were “reportedly captured by Russian forces in Ukraine.” The US government is closely monitoring the situation and is thinking of the men’s families.
A third US citizen is missing in Ukraine, according to the White House. US President Joe Biden appealed to US citizens on Friday not to travel to Ukraine. “Americans shouldn’t go to Ukraine now. I’ll say it again: Americans shouldn’t go to Ukraine.”
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