At least they’re alive. Videos of two Americans, missing in Ukraine for several days, have been broadcast on the official Telegram messenger of the Russian public television channel RT. “Mom, I just want to tell you that I’m alive and I hope to get home as soon as I can,” Alexander Drueke said facing the camera, in military fatigues and apparently seated in an office. “Love Diesel for me, I love you,” he adds, concluding his brief video with a wink. According to American media, Diesel is the name of his dog.
On Friday, US President Joe Biden announced to the press that he did not know the whereabouts of Alexander Drueke and Andy Huynh, two former US soldiers whose relatives had not heard from them since last week. “Americans should not go to Ukraine,” he added. The videos broadcast by RT do not, however, provide all the answers.
Circumstances of their captivity unclear
In a video, Andy Huynh explains that he was engaged with his friend “in a fight with Russian troops” near Kharkov. “The Russian forces took over our positions. We had to retreat,” adds Andy Huynh. After hiding for several hours, the two men surrendered to Russian forces, he claims. The two men were also filmed in other videos broadcast by RT, where they say they are “against the war”, in hesitant Russian. The circumstances under which the two former servicemen were speaking, and who is holding them, are unclear at this stage.
A State Department spokesperson confirmed on Saturday that he had seen the photos and videos of the two American citizens “who were allegedly captured by Russian military forces in Ukraine”. “We are closely monitoring the situation,” he said, while the State Department also reported information on the disappearance “in recent weeks” of a third American citizen.
“I just want to see him safe and sound”
The relatives of the two Americans had reacted this week in the media. Drueke’s mother, Lois, told CNN on Thursday that her son had gone to Ukraine after discussing it with her for a month. “I want everyone to know. We don’t want one to come back without the other. They were best friends and we want everyone to remember that there is not just one person there,” she said.
Andy Huynh’s fiancée, Joy Black, reports in the same interview that she hasn’t heard from him since June 8. “He told me that he loved me very much and that he would be unavailable for two, three days. He was trying not to worry me,” she said. “I just want to see him safe and sound.”