The Telegraph: two former American servicemen were captured in Ukraine
Two former American soldiers, 39-year-old Alexander Drucke and 27-year-old Andy Huhne, were captured during a "fierce battle near Kharkov with Russian troops," they participated in hostilities on the side of Kiev, writes the British newspaper The Telegraph. The publication believes that this is the first case of the capture of American citizens, and it may become the subject of political bargaining between Moscow and Washington.
Two more foreign soldiers were captured in Ukraine, according to The Telegraph, these are former US servicemen 39-year-old Alexander Drucke and 27-year-old Andy Huhne.
According to the publication, they went to Ukraine as volunteers and served in one of the regular units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). The Telegraph, citing military colleagues, writes that the men were captured "during a fierce battle near Kharkov in northeastern Ukraine last week."
A friend of the two men said that Drucke and Huhne were captured because of problems with intelligence: "We were told that the city was free when it turned out that the Russians were already storming it."
He noted that Russian servicemen "came with two T-72 tanks and several armored fighting vehicles and about a hundred infantrymen," there were 10 people from the Ukrainian side.
After the fighting, the colleagues could not find Hyun and Druce, where they were last seen.
"We suspect that they lost consciousness either from an anti-tank mine or from a shot from a tank, because later, during the search work, we could not find any traces of them, nothing," a colleague of the American prisoners shared with The Telegraph.
According to him, on the same night, "a message appeared on the Russian Telegram channel that two American servicemen were captured near Kharkov."
A native of Alabama, Drucke previously served in the US Army in Iraq. His mother, 68-year-old Lois, told The Telegraph that the US Embassy assured her that diplomats "are doing everything possible to find him, and that they are looking for him alive, not dead." She expressed hope that the American side would try to exchange her son "for Russian prisoners of war."
Alexander Druke
Image source: Alexander J. Drueke/Facebook (the Meta owner company is recognized as an extremist organization)
The article also suggests that Moscow will try to use the capture of the American military as "proof that the United States is directly involved in the war." And Russian President Vladimir Putin, "most likely, will demand significant concessions for the release of American citizens."
Sean Pinner and Aiden Aslin, Brahim Saadoun
In March-April, three foreigners who participated in the fighting on the side of Ukraine were captured in Donbass: two Britons, Sean Pinner and Aiden Aslin, and a Moroccan, Brahim Saadoun. The Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic later stated that they had established their involvement in crimes under Part 2 of Article 34 of the DPR Criminal Code ("Commission of crimes by a group of persons"), Article 323 of the DPR Criminal Code ("Forcible seizure of power or forcible retention of power") and Article 430 of the DPR Criminal Code ("Mercenary activity"). The DPR court sentenced foreigners to death, the sentence has not yet been put into effect.
At the same time, as the Moroccan's father said, his son has Ukrainian citizenship. This was reported by the Maghreb Arabe Presse news agency with reference to the embassy in Kiev.
According to the bureau, foreign military "have the right to the status of prisoners of war and cannot be prosecuted or punished solely for active participation in hostilities, even if this participation is qualified by the parties to the armed conflict as a criminal offense."
As for the death penalty, the organization recalled that in most OSCE participating states it has been abolished or a moratorium has been imposed on it. The DPR is not a member of the OSCE.
The press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow would be ready to listen to the appeal of the United Kingdom about the fate of British mercenaries, if any. But first, in his opinion, London should turn to the authorities of "the country whose court passed the verdict, and it is not the Russian Federation."
The head of the DPR Denis Pushilin has already stated that he "sees no reason" to abolish the death penalty for three foreigners.
"First of all, I must be guided by the judicial decision that has been made. By the nature of those articles, the offenses they committed, I do not see any grounds, prerequisites for me to come out with such a decision on pardon," he stressed.
Angelina Milchenko
