Uh oh Exclusive: US fighters ‘captured’ by Russian forces in Ukraine Two former US servicemen have been captured during fighting with Russian forces in Ukraine, The Telegraph has learned. The pair were taken prisoner during a fierce battle outside the north-east city of Kharkiv last week, according to comrades who were fighting alongside them. Alexander Drueke, 39, and Andy Huynh, 27, had been serving as volunteers with a regular Ukrainian army unit. They are believed to be the first US servicemen to end up as Russian prisoners of war. They will join a growing number of Western military volunteers captured by Russian forces, including three Britons - Aiden Aslin, Shaun Pinner and Andrew Hill. Last week, a court in the pro-Russian breakaway state of the Donetsk People's Republic sentenced Mr Aslin and Mr Pinner to death, after trying them as "mercenaries". The capture of the two Americans will be diplomatically sensitive, as the Kremlin may seek to use it as proof that the US is becoming directly involved in the war. Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, is likely to demand significant concessions in exchange for their release. These guys may have no Geneva protections available to them as prisoners of war. So they could be executed. Or Putin could dangle them as hostages.
Lol....we are involved.....where do you think weapons come from....LOL. ICYMI....there's really not much Geneva rules in this war....Ukies killing Russki POWs....vice versa....Chechens killing Russki deserters....Buryats and Chechens having shootouts since each one thinks the other is a low life....and Kalmyks just looking to stay alive.....it's a $hitshow.
So two of the many mercenaries that Ukraine has hired are (were, most likely shot already) Americans. So what? Is it really worth all these lives we're seeing lost just to fly another flag on your embassy?
They weren't fighting on behalf of the United States of America in an official capacity. They went themselves to help support Ukraine as a personal thing. A lot of people have left America to go and help support Ukraine. For example, I saw a headline that my former pediatrician, who I saw as a kid, had come out of retirement and left for Ukraine to provide medical services there. I don't think the USA would be happy if Russia executed them, though. But, also, Russia hasn't exactly followed the Geneva convention, and Putin even said that this war would be an atrocity never before seen by this generation.
Russia won't execute them. There is no death penalty in Russia. They will not be afforded the rights of a POW, either. They should count themselves lucky that it was Russians rather than the Donbas militias that caught them.
Not a good idea to get involved, but some do. I'll bet there are other adventure seekers out there. Putin will squeeze every drop of political juice out of them.
No such thing as "Donbas militias".....that's a myth....more like Mafiosi regulars....the Donbas has been hollowed out of its fighting age males....the zhradniks or what's left of them recently made some video of how poorly they're treated by their Mafialand handlers....is Pushilin dead...or injured I hear?.....hopefully that mongrel gets a lead aspirin soon. No death penalty in Mafialand....someone tell Dwarfstan that...lol.
If these were US servicemen, I'm pretty sure they would have followed Geneva protocols. At least most of them. There would still probably be show trials.
No, Russia never returned US military members captured in WWII. Russia has never signed the Geneva Convention protocols.
Rabid comrade Pooteen murders whoever he wants, no matter of Geneva Regulations. Don't you know that?
They are heroes for going over there, but of course being captured and mistreated by the enemy is a risk in war. lol... no death penalty, only extrajudicial assassinations.
That would be murder and a serious war crime. Russian legal scholars were actively involved in drafting the London Charter -- the Nuremberg Charter outlawing aggressive war as a Crime Against Peace.
security contract values have gone way up, it's a tempting gig for short term. This kind of thing happens now and again.
Wow is that a ridiculous statement! "Is Putin one of your pals?" Way to bring down the level of discourse on this forum down even further. However because I'm not you, I'll give you an answer. I think the Russians might be incentivized to treat the Americans per the Geneva accords because they may want to use them for propaganda purposes; maybe a show trial. Maybe as bargaining chips with Biden; something like that. That's a value that the average Ukrainian prisoner wouldn't have.