Exclusive: US fighters ‘captured’ by Russian forces in Ukraine
Alexander Drueke and Andy Huynh are both veterans of the US military who travelled to the frontline to help in the war effort
www.telegraph.co.uk
British mercenaries captured have been sentenced to death,
but American mercenaries will be big bargaining chips for Putin (Original source: https://blackpill.club/index.php?th...an-forces-in-heavy-fighting-in-kharviv.24038/)
The High T elder anglo simp, Negative IQ default rice face betabuxxer left his starfish sex doll named Joy Black back in Alabama, to go to CUckraine indefinitely.
i hope my mind will never degrade to the level of an NPC Normie. (Original source: https://blackpill.club/index.php?th...an-forces-in-heavy-fighting-in-kharviv.24038/)
thanks to https://blackpill.club/index.php?members/expirinaspirin.736/
Exclusive: US fighters ‘captured’ by Russian forces in Ukraine
Alexander Drueke and Andy Huynh are both veterans of the US military who travelled to the frontline to help in the war effort
ByColin Freeman15 June 2022 • 6:45pm
Alexander Drueke, left, and Andy Huynh have been captured by Russian forces in Kharkiv
Two former US servicemen have been captured during fighting with Russian forces in Ukraine, The Telegraph has learned.
The pair were taken prisoner during a fierce battle outside the north-east city of Kharkiv last week, according to comrades who were fighting alongside them.
Alexander Drueke, 39, and Andy Huynh, 27, had been serving as volunteers with a regular Ukrainian army unit. They are believed to be the first US servicemen to end up as Russian prisoners of war.
They will join a growing number of Western military volunteers captured by Russian forces, including three Britons - Aiden Aslin, Shaun Pinner and Andrew Hill.
Last week, a court in the pro-Russian breakaway state of the Donetsk People's Republic sentenced Mr Aslin and Mr Pinner to death, after trying them as "mercenaries".
The capture of the two Americans will be diplomatically sensitive, as the Kremlin may seek to use it as proof that the US is becoming directly involved in the war. Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, is likely to demand significant concessions in exchange for their release.
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A comrade of the two men, who asked not to be named, told The Telegraph they had been captured after running into a much larger Russian force during a battle last Thursday in the village of Izbytske, 30 miles north-east of Kharkiv. The village is less than five miles from the Russian border.
Andy Huynh is a military veteran from Alabama
"We were out on a mission and the whole thing went absolutely crazy, with bad intel," he said.
"We were told the town was clear, when it turned out the Russians were already assaulting it. They came down the road with two T72 tanks and multiple BMP3s [armoured fighting vehicles] and about 100 infantry. The only thing that was there was our 10-man squad."
The squad fell back and set up defensive positions, laying an anti-tank mine in the road for the advancing T72s. Mr Drueke and Mr Huynh, meanwhile, manned an RPG7 rocket-propelled grenade launcher together.
"Everybody took cover waiting for one of the tanks to hit the anti-tank mine, but Alex and Andy saw a BMP3 coming from another direction through the woods and realised that it would kill most of us. They opened fire and took it out with their first shot."
That, however, drew the attention of one of the T72 tanks, which fired a shot in the pair's direction. The shell is thought to have missed them, but may have caused a blast that knocked them out.
Shortly afterwards, the tank itself was crippled itself by one of the anti-tank mines. The two Americans then vanished in the fog of battle, where they are thought to have been captured by the Russian infantry soldiers.
Their comrade said: "It was all very chaotic, but we suspect that they were knocked unconscious by either the blast from the tank shooting at them, or from the anti-tank mine blowing up, because later search missions found not a sign of them.
"Afterwards, we sent drones up and had a Ukrainian search team on the ground, but we found nothing. If they had been hit by the tank shell, there would have been remains of their bodies or equipment at the scene."
He said his suspicions grew later that night, when a message appeared on a Russian Telegram channel claiming that two American servicemen had been taken as prisoners of war near Kharkiv.
"Z group have scored some success in the Kharkiv destination for the last two days. We have taken hostage 10-20 Ukrainian soldiers and also today two American mercenaries," the post said.
Their comrade said: "It is too much of a coincidence for that to have happened otherwise - we are the only Americans fighting in this area."
“We are not mercenaries, or part of some militia. We are serving under the command of the Ukrainian armed forces. I am speaking out on my missing comrades' behalf because I want it in the public domain that they are missing, so that the Russian high command is made aware too.
“That hopefully reduces the chances of them being quietly executed by whoever is holding them further down the chain."
Mr Drueke, 39, is from Tuscaloosa, in Alabama, and signed up with the US Army after 9/11, serving in Iraq as a staff sergeant.
Robert J Drueke is seen in his American military regalia CREDIT: 登录 Facebook
His mother Lois, 68, told The Telegraph that he had worked as a top gunner in convoys escorting VIPs through Baghdad - a job that made him a constant target for insurgent gunmen and led to him suffering PTSD.
He struggled to hold down a job after leaving the army and had to abandon a new career as a policeman, because it aggravated his PTSD.
However, she said that when Putin’s forces invaded Ukraine, her son saw a fresh opportunity to put his military skills to good use.
Alexander Drueke felt strongly that Vladimir Putin should be stopped
"Alex felt strongly that Mr Putin needed to be stopped, it would lead to another world war,” she said. “He said that knew how to train people and could do his small part.
"I was worried about him going out there, but once he was out there he sounded happy for the first time in years. He liked being back in the military world with a sense of purpose and he said he had fallen in love with Ukraine."
At first, she said, her son told her he was only involved in training Ukrainian forces. However, last Wednesday, she received a message from him, hinting that he was "going dark for a day or two".
"I told him to be safe and that I loved him, but he kept details very vague," she said. "The US embassy have assured me that they are doing everything they can to find him and that they are searching for him alive, not dead. I am doing my best not to fall apart, I am going to stay strong."
Mr Huynh was born to Vietnamese parents in California but lived in Alabama's Tennessee Valley area, where he was studying robotics at college. He had previously served for four years in the US Marines, but had no combat experience.
Andy Huynh felt he should travel to Ukraine to help fighters in the war against Russia
His fiancée, Joy Black, said the idea of volunteering had been "gnawing" at him ever since the very first day of the Russian invasion on February 24.
"He said to me: 'They are attacking with 60 battalions, do you know how much that is?'
“At first I didn't really take him seriously, but he was reading all these stories about young Ukrainian men having to fight as soon they turned 18, and he felt he should try to help.
"I tried to persuade him not to go, but I think his mind was made up. I could see how it was gnawing at him. Eventually, he apologised to me and said he really had to go."
Prior to leaving, he took a baptism at his local church, the Trinity Free Presbyterian, where he told his pastor that he felt "a burden from God to go and help".
Ms Black received a call from Mr Huynh's comrades on Monday to say that he had gone missing.
"I was told they had not made their rendezvous point and that some drone searches had been done that had found no trace of them," she said.
"He didn't tell me anything about the operation he was on last week, as he didn't want to scare me. I just want to have him back safely."
The US State Department in Washington told The Telegraph: "We are aware of unconfirmed reports of two US citizens captured in Ukraine.
“We are closely monitoring the situation and are in contact with Ukrainian authorities. Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment."
Mrs Drueke said that she hoped the US diplomats would press for her son and Mr Huynh to be part of a prisoner swap deal in exchange for Russian prisoners of war captured by Ukraine.
Aiden Aslin, along with fellow Briton Shaun Pinner, has been sentenced to death - but there are hopes the pair could be exchanged in a prisoner swap CREDIT: AP Photo
Ukrainian officials have already said that they are hoping for such a deal for Mr Pinner, 48, and Mr Aslin, 28, who have been sentenced to death by firing squad.
"The possibility that the two British men may be exchanged is encouraging for us," said Mrs Drueke.
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