Volunteering To Face Russia, Two US Citizens Missing In Ukraine: One Ex-Marine, Another Lead Shooter In Iraq

JAKARTA - Russia said all information regarding the fate of detained or convicted enemy soldiers was released to the public, when two US citizens were declared missing in Ukraine.

Two Americans who traveled to Ukraine as volunteer fighters against Russia have been missing for the past week, leaving their families worried for their fate.

Alexander Drueke, 39, from Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Andy Huynh, 27, from Hartselle, Alabama, last had contact with their families on June 8 and did not return from a mission around the Kharkiv region in eastern Ukraine.

Reports that the two had been taken captive by Russia have not been confirmed, the family and a State Department spokesman said.

"What we know officially at this point from the State Department is, Andy and Alex are missing," Joy Black, Andy's fiancé, said by telephone.

"We have no confirmation for anything beyond that. Obviously the longer the search the more we start to consider other scenarios," he added.

"When Andy saw this footage coming out of Ukraine, he said he couldn't sleep, couldn't eat, just devoured by the horrors these innocent civilians were going through," Black said.

Lois Drueke, Alexander's mother, said she had been in contact with the US Embassy to Ukraine, which is located in Poland, who was looking for the couple.

Previously, the two men had informed their families on June 8 that they would be offline for a few days, but did not provide details, for fear of their communications being intercepted.

Separately, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the United States had not contacted Russia about reports of US fighters.

"I don't have that information, I check every day, and I will check today. We make all the information about the fate of the detained mercenaries, or those sentenced to public, public," Zakharova said, as reported by the RIA news agency.

There has been no direct comment from the Russian Ministry of Defense regarding the news of the disappearance of the two citizens of Uncle Sam's country.

If the pair are caught, they will be the first US citizens confirmed to have been taken as prisoners of war in the conflict that began on February 24, after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of his neighbor.

Meanwhile, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said that if the reports were true, the United States "will do everything we can" to get them back. Read more

Last week, two British nationals and a Moroccan were sentenced to death, by a separatist tribunal in the Russian-speaking Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), after being caught fighting for Ukraine.

Drueke was known to have served two missions in Iraq, the last of which was as the main shooter in Baghdad in 2008-09, his mother said. Huynh is a former US marine who left service in 2018, his fiancé said.

They said the men did not know each other before meeting in Ukraine, but both felt compelled to support the government after seeing photos of civilian casualties as Russia withdrew from cities outside Kyiv in late March.

"As a mother of course I don't want my child in danger. But I know that it is very important to Alex, he wants a purpose in his life and he feels that this is good and noble," concluded Lois Drueke.