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Two U.S. Alabama war veterans who were in Ukraine to help fight Russia have not been in contact with relatives for several days and are missing, state lawmakers said Wednesday.
Relatives of Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, 27, of Trinity, and Alexander Drueke, 39, of Tuscaloosa, have been in contact with Albama lawmakers’ offices in the U.S. Congress to seek help for any information about their whereabouts, officials said. of the press.
Lawmaker Robert Aderholt said veteran Huynh had volunteered to fight with the Ukrainian army against Russia, but relatives had not heard from him since June 8, when he was in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine near the Russian border. Veterans Huynh and Drueke were together, said an aide to lawmaker Aderholt.
“As you can imagine, his relatives are very worried about him,” Mr Aderholt said in a statement. “My office has requested information from both the US Department of State and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
Lawmaker Terri Sewell said veteran Drueke’s mother contacted her office earlier this week after losing contact with her son.
The US State Department said it was examining reports that Russian-backed separatist forces in Ukraine had captured at least two US citizens. If confirmed, they would be the first Americans fighting for Ukraine known to have been captured since the start of the war on February 24th.
“We are following the situation closely and are in contact with the Ukrainian authorities,” a State Department spokesman told reporters. He declined to comment further, citing the issue of privacy.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday that the administration was unable to confirm reports of Americans missing.
“We will do our best to follow the situation and see what we can learn,” said Mr Kirby.
However, he reiterated the warning against Americans going to Ukraine.
“Ukraine is not the place for Americans to travel,” he said. “If you have a passion for supporting Ukraine, there are several ways to do it that are safer and just as effective.”
A court in Donetsk, under the control of separatist forces, sentenced two Britons and a Moroccan to death last week.
Lawmaker Adam Kinzinger wrote on Twitter that the Americans “have enlisted in the Ukrainian army, so they have combat legal protection. “As such, we expect them to be treated in accordance with the Geneva convention,” he said. It is unclear whether Mr. Kinzinger, a Republican from Illinois, has any further information about the two veterans.
He was commenting on a Twitter post released earlier Wednesday by a group of former US and French soldiers, saying two Americans fighting them were captured a week ago. The group said Ukrainian intelligence confirmed the information.
At the beginning of the war, Ukraine created the International Legion for foreign nationals who wanted to help against Russian aggression./VOA
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