Kremlin Says Not Know Where US Citizen Arrested In Ukraine And Alludes To Death Penalty, White House: Terrible

JAKARTA - The White House said it was appalling when a public official in Russia mentioned the death penalty for American citizens arrested in Ukraine.

Two Americans who traveled to Ukraine as volunteer fighters against Russia briefly disappeared during the kick-off, leaving families worried for their fate last week.

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. Later, the fate of the two was revealed after it was announced that they had been caught in Ukraine.

"It is appalling that a public official in Russia would even suggest the death penalty for an American citizen in Ukraine," John Kirby, the National Security Council's Coordinator of Strategic Communications told reporters, after a Kremlin spokesman said the two men were not protected by the Geneva Convention on prisoners. war, citing CNA June 22.

"Either way, it's equally worrying. Do they really mean what they're saying here, and that this could be the result, that they can levy the death penalty on two Americans who fought in Ukraine, or that they just feel that it's a responsible thing for a great power to do, talk about doing this."

The United States also "strongly disagrees" with Russia's position that its nationals arrested in Ukraine are not covered by the Geneva Conventions, a senior State Department official said, adding Washington had communicated its position on the matter to the Russian government.

As previously reported, Russia cannot guarantee that two US mercenaries caught in Ukraine will not be sentenced to death, such as the death penalty imposed on two British mercenaries and one Moroccan.

"I can't guarantee anything. It depends on the investigation," he said when asked if he could guarantee US prisoners of war would not face the same fate as Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner and Moroccan national Brahim Saadoun previously sentenced. , by a court in the Donetsk People's Republic, TASS reported.

"They are mercenaries, and they are involved in illegal activities on the territory of Ukraine. They are involved in shooting and shooting our military personnel. They endanger their lives and they must be held accountable for the crimes they have committed," Peskov said in an interview with the channel US MSNBC news.

"And they must be held accountable for the crimes they committed. Those crimes must be investigated. The only thing that is clear is that they have committed crimes. They are not Ukrainian soldiers. They are not subject to the Geneva Conventions," he said, citing Reuters.

None of the mercenaries the West sent to Ukraine to fight for the nationalist regime will enjoy the rights of the fighters under international humanitarian law, the Geneva Conventions, said Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov.

"I would like to make an official statement that none of the mercenaries sent by the West to Ukraine to fight for the nationalist regime in Kiev, can be considered as fighters according to international humanitarian law or enjoy prisoner-of-war (POW) status," Konashenkov stressed.

He warned that all foreign mercenaries caught and detained in Ukraine would be brought to justice on criminal charges.