Russia says the U.S. hasn't contacted them over two Individuals, each former servicemen, who're lacking and should have been taken prisoner by Moscow in the course of the battle in Ukraine.
Unnamed troopers who say they fought alongside the pair advised British newspaper The Telegraph that Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, 27, who served within the Marines, and Alexander Drueke, 39, an Iraq Conflict veteran, disappeared throughout a fierce battle exterior Kharkiv, in Ukraine's north-east.
Russian International Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova advised Russia's Solovyov Dwell program that Washington is but to contact Moscow relating to the stories, state-run information outlet RIA Novosti reported.
Zakharova additionally appeared to deflect the stories when pressed on the difficulty on air.
"I haven't got such data, I test day-after-day, I will test it immediately. We make all of the details about the destiny of detained mercenaries or these sentenced to trial public... As soon as once more, I wish to say—I'll double-check if there's any extra data on this regard," Zakharova mentioned.
The Telegraph stories that if confirmed, Drueke and Huynh, who had been residing within the state of Alabama, could possibly be the primary U.S. servicemen to finish up as Russian prisoners of warfare.
White Home spokesperson John Kirby mentioned Wednesday that he couldn't verify that Drueke and Huynh are lacking, however added that "if it is true, we'll do all the things we will to get them safely again dwelling."
Kirby urged Individuals towards volunteering to struggle in Ukraine.
"It's a warfare zone. It's fight. And should you really feel enthusiastic about supporting Ukraine, there's any variety of different methods to try this which can be safer and simply as efficient," Kirby mentioned.
The State Division individually mentioned that it's "conscious of unconfirmed stories of two U.S. residents captured in Ukraine."
"We're carefully monitoring the scenario and are involved with Ukrainian authorities. As a consequence of privateness concerns, we've got no additional remark," the division mentioned in an announcement to a number of information shops.
Drueke's mom, Lois, advised CBS Information she hasn't acquired official phrase that her son has been taken prisoner.
The unnamed comrade claimed Drueke and Huynh had been captured within the village of Izbytske, near the Russian border.
"We had been out on a mission and the entire thing went completely loopy, with dangerous intel," he mentioned, noting that they could not be discovered throughout later search missions.
He mentioned he grew involved when he noticed a message on a Russian Telegram channel l claiming that two U.S. servicemen had been taken as prisoners of warfare close to Kharkiv—the place they'd been positioned.
"It's an excessive amount of of a coincidence for that to have occurred in any other case—we're the one Individuals combating on this space," the comrade mentioned.
"We're not mercenaries, or a part of some militia. We're serving beneath the command of the Ukrainian armed forces. I'm talking out on my lacking comrades' behalf as a result of I need it within the public area that they're lacking, in order that the Russian excessive command is made conscious too.
"That hopefully reduces the possibilities of them being quietly executed by whoever is holding them additional down the chain."
Final week, two British males and a Moroccan who had been combating in Ukraine had been sentenced to dying by a courtroom within the self-proclaimed Individuals's Republic of Donetsk after they had been tried as "mercenaries."
Newsweek has contacted the Biden administration and the U.S. protection division for remark.
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