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Ukrainian units near Kharkiv (May 8 icon)
Photo: Felipe Dana / dpa
They are said to have joined the Ukrainian army as volunteers – now a 39-year-old and a 27-year-old US citizen could be in Russian captivity.
As the British Telegraph claims to have learned from other soldiers, the two were captured in fighting outside the city of Kharkiv in the east of the country.
The US government has not confirmed the reports but is warning US citizens against traveling to Ukraine.
If the reports about the two prisoners of war are correct, "everything we can do will be done," said John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, according to Reuters.
The information cannot be independently verified at this time.
The "Washington Post" also reports a possible arrest after telephone conversations with the men's families.
Accordingly, the families say they are in close contact with the US authorities.
If the reports are confirmed, the US government will face new problems.
The capture could have diplomatic ramifications, as Russia could use the soldiers as evidence of direct US involvement in the war.
In addition, Russian President Vladimir Putin could demand significant concessions for the release.
According to the Telegraph, the 39-year-old soldier comes from Tuscaloosa in the US state of Alabama.
He joined the US Army after September 11, 2001 and served in Iraq.
His 27-year-old comrade lived in Alabama.
He had served in the US Marines for four years but had no combat experience.
A comrade of the two men told the British newspaper the Americans were captured after they encountered a larger Russian force during a skirmish last Thursday in the village of Izbytske, northeast of Kharkiv.
"It turned out that the Russians were already attacking them"
"We were out on a mission and the whole thing went haywire with bad information," he said, according to the report.
"We were told that the city was safe, but it turned out that the Russians were already attacking it." The statements cannot currently be verified.
The soldier suspects that the two Americans must have lost consciousness in an explosion and were then caught.
The other soldiers later searched for them without success.
"Had they been hit by the tank shell, remains of their bodies or equipment would have been found at the scene."
Supposedly Russian messages about Americans
According to the Telegraph, the suspicion was later confirmed when a Russian Telegram channel published that two American soldiers had been taken prisoner near Kharkiv.
Two British and one Moroccan fighters had previously been arrested in the Donbass.
They could be executed as »mercenaries«.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss called the verdict against the men a "bogus verdict without any legitimacy".
ani/jok/Reuters