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Two US Fighters Missing in Ukraine and Fears May Have Been Captured

2022-06-15T23:27:12.839Z


Americans Alexander John-Robert Drueke and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh were fighting in Kharkiv, Ukraine when they went missing.


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(CNN) --

Two Americans fighting with Ukrainian forces north of Kharkiv have been missing for nearly a week and are feared captured by Russian forces, according to their relatives and another fighter.


The men are Alexander John-Robert Drueke, 39, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, 27, of Hartselle, Alabama.

A man serving as the unit's sergeant, who wishes to remain anonymous for security reasons, provided CNN with passport photos and Ukraine entry stamps for both men.

  • Russia's withdrawal from Kharkiv, another key Ukrainian city, reveals new evidence of atrocities

The man claimed his unit was fighting under the command of Ukraine's 92nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade on June 9 near the town of Izbytske.

He said Drueke and Huynh went missing during the battle and search missions failed to find their bodies.

A post the next day on a Russian propaganda channel on Telegram claimed that two Americans had been captured near Kharkiv.

"It was total chaos," he told CNN.

"There were over a hundred infantry advancing on our positions. We had a T72 [main battle tank] shooting at people from 30 or 40 meters."

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Alexander John-Robert Drueke (left), and Andy Tai Ngoc Huyn (right) went missing in Ukraine.

Bunny Drueke, Alexander's mother, told CNN that "they are presumed prisoners of war, but that has not been confirmed."

She said the US embassy in Ukraine has not been able to verify whether her son has been captured.

"They have not been able to verify that he is with the Russians. All they can verify is that he is missing at the moment," he said.

"They are keeping in close contact with me, and I have every confidence that they are working through the situation."

Huynh's fiancée, Joy Black, told CNN: "We don't want to make assumptions about what could have happened at this point. Obviously, they are looking at various scenarios. And one of them is that they could have been captured. But we don't have absolute confirmation." about that right now."

A US State Department spokesman said on Wednesday that "they are aware of unconfirmed reports of two US citizens captured in Ukraine."

"We are closely monitoring the situation and are in contact with the Ukrainian authorities," the spokesman said.

"Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment."

The White House said Wednesday that they cannot confirm the reports, however, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said "if true, we will do everything we can to get them home safe and sound." .

Both Bunny Drueke and Joy Black told CNN their last communication with loved ones was June 8, when the men told them they were going offline for a few days for a mission.

"It was a pretty normal conversation actually: I told him I was going to eat with friends at our favorite restaurant," Black said.

"And he said, 'I love you so much.' And then he said, 'I won't be available for two or three days.' Which I found out was because of the operation they were doing."

They got engaged in March, not long before he left for Ukraine, Black said.

"We didn't know if we wanted to get married or engaged before he left. And we decided to get engaged so that when he came back we could get married and enjoy it and not be separated right after we got married."


Now, she said, it is "very fragile."

"Although not great things have happened, I'm still very proud of Andy for being strong," she added.


Bunny Drueke said that she has "ups and downs."

"I try to stay calm and be brave, because losing everything is not going to help Alex in the slightest. So I'm trying to stay calm," he said.

-- Jennifer Hansler and Kaitlan Collins contributed reporting from Washington.

FighterWar in Ukraine

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2022-06-15

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