Two US Citizens Caught In Ukraine Not Accused As Prisoners Of War? Kremlin: They're Mercenaries And Commit Crime

US citizens missing in Ukraine Andy Huynh (left) and Alexander Drueke. (Twitter/@uasupport999)

JAKARTA - Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said two U.S. citizens caught in Ukraine, who were mercenaries, committed crimes that would be investigated and were not subject to the Geneva Conventions.

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 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.

"They are mercenaries, and they are involved in illegal activities on Ukrainian territory. 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, citing TASS June 21.

"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."

Launching various sources, it is known that one of the points in the Geneva Conventions after the Second World War, among others, regulates the provision of prisoners of war. Meanwhile, Russia has announced from the start that it will set aside this for foreign mercenaries caught in Ukraine.

None of the mercenaries the West has sent to Ukraine to fight for the nationalist regime will enjoy the rights of the fighters under international humanitarian law, 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 said.

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

Peskov's comments are the first official acknowledgment that the two men have been detained and are being investigated. However, Peskov would not reveal where the people were being held.

Earlier, two Britons and a Moroccan had been sentenced by a court under the jurisdiction of the Russian-backed separatists in Donetsk. The reason being, they are mercenaries and are not subject to the Geneva Conventions governing prisoners of war.