No Script

Please Wait...

Ramadan Kareem...

Kremlin Says Two Americans Captured In Ukraine Committed ’Crimes’

Kremlin Says Two Americans Captured In Ukraine Committed ’Crimes’
folder_openRussia access_timeone year ago
starAdd to favorites

By Staff, Agencies

The Kremlin spokesman said two Americans captured while fighting with Ukraine's military were "mercenaries" engaged in illegal activities and should be "held accountable for those crimes."

Dmitry Peskov said the captured men are not covered by the Geneva Convention as they are not regular troops.

"They're soldiers of fortune and they were involved in illegal activities on the territory of Ukraine. They were involved in firing and shelling our military personnel. They were endangering their lives," he said.

According to the Interfax news agency on Tuesday, the two Americans are currently in the Russian-backed separatist region of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.

The two men have been identified as Andy Huynh and Alexander Drueke, both from Alabama.

Though Russia does not carry out the death penalty, the self-styled Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics do.

Drueke, 39, is a former US Army staff sergeant who served two tours in Iraq, while Huynh, 27, is a former Marine.

The soldiers went missing while fighting under heavy fire in a village near Kharkov only 25 miles from the Russian border.

The US State department confirmed having seen photos and online videos of the two veterans in custody.

Comments