A former US soldier fighting Ukrainian forces has revealed details of a battle in which Andy Tai Nguyen Hoen, 27, and Alexander Darwick, 39, were arrested in Kharkov on June 9.
The soldier, who asked to be identified, told CNN that they had been sent on a mission east of Kharkov. To repel large-scale Russian armored attack.
He said Huyn and Darwick fired and destroyed an RPG at a Russian infantry fighting vehicle passing through the jungle, but as more than 100 Russian infantry and two American fighters began to advance, the entire Ukrainian army They were forced to retreat quickly. They found themselves in a village previously believed to be in Ukrainian hands.
He continued: “I think after the mine explosion, they were chased and shot or stopped, this is just speculation, we do not know what it really is.” It was “absolute chaos,” he said.
A Russian public television channel posted videos on social media on Friday of Huyn and Drewik.
US President Joe Biden told reporters on Friday that he did not know the whereabouts of the two men, two former US soldiers whose relatives have not been known since last week. Biden added that Americans should not go to Ukraine.
The State Department also said that there was information about the disappearance of a third American citizen “in recent weeks.”
Roman Kusarov, a Russian journalist working for the Russian state television network, released a video clip of Alexander Drovich speaking in front of the camera on Telegram on Friday evening.
“Mom, I just want to tell you that I’m alive and I hope to be home as soon as possible,” said Darwick, who was dressed in military uniform and appeared to be sitting in an office.
RT also aired a video clip of Andy Hoin on his official Telegram account, explaining that he and Alexander Drok were engaged in a “battle with Russian forces” near Kharkov (eastern Ukraine). “Russian forces took control of our positions. We had to retreat,” Hoein added. He said they surrendered to Russian forces after hiding for several hours.
The two men were also filmed in other videos aired by RT in which they said they “oppose the war”.
It is not yet clear under what circumstances the two ex-soldiers spoke or who held them.
According to CNN, the two Americans were arrested by pro-Russian separatist forces in the Donetsk region and are being held in the center.
A State Department spokesman confirmed Saturday that U.S. officials had seen photographs and videos of the two Americans “apparently detained by Russian troops in Ukraine.”
“We are closely monitoring the situation and our thoughts are with their families at this difficult time,” the spokesman told AFP.
According to the State Department, three Americans are among a group of veterans who joined other foreign volunteers to fight alongside Ukrainian forces, according to the State Department.
The third American was reportedly a former U.S. Marine officer with more than 20 years of experience. According to his wife told CNN, the latest information about him was received in late April.
On June 9, a court of pro-Russian separatist officials in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine sentenced “British executioners Aiden Aslin and Sean Banner and Moroccan Ibrahim Saadoun to death for participating in the war as mercenaries.” According to the Russians, they were arrested in the Mariupol region.
“The Russians have obligations. Members of the Ukrainian armed forces – including volunteers who may come from third countries and join the armed forces – should be treated as prisoners of war in accordance with Geneva,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ned Price said on Thursday. Conventions. “
Source: Lebanon Debate
