Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in an interview with NBC News that aired on Monday, appeared to confirm that the two men had been captured while fighting in Ukraine. However, speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Peskov said Moscow did not know the location of the two men. On June 19, Makeyevka and Yasinovataya were being attacked. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers. Western nations condemned the sentence. The Kremlin says that as "mercenaries", the men are not protected by the Geneva Conventions, which outline how prisoners of war should be treated. A spokesperson in the DPR declined immediate comment. znscr.parentNode.insertBefore(zergnet, znscr); We never comment on them and have no right to interfere in court decisions.". The Geneva Conventions do not apply to mercenaries or other partisan fighters not officially enlisted in a national military. Russian ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov said that foreign fighters who had joined Ukraine's forces were "hunting for Russian lives." Now, they're complaining that Ukrainian intelligence flopped and that their unit went into battle completely unprepared. We have taken hostage 10-20 Ukrainian soldiers and also today two American mercenaries," the telegram post by the Russian military read. Pumping Ukraine with weapons has become the main trend in EU foreign policy. Recall that a few weeks ago two British mercenaries were captured in Mariupol. Copyright 2022 HNGN. "We obviously disagree vigorously and we have made our position clear to the Russian government," a senior State Department official told reporters, when asked about Peskov's comments. ", [The program features a clip from French news channel BFM, in which lawyer Arno Klarsfeld says:] "To join the EU on an equal footing, Ukraine has to stop glorifying those who killed Jews during the second world war Europe has economic, legal, and moral norms. Sign in Two American mercenaries were captured in Ukraine. The volunteer spoke to Rolling Stone on condition that his name and nationality not be revealed. Many recall the inaccuracies by Kyiv and chose to abandon their positions The US mercenary was sent home after having a brain injury from the fighting. We are aware of unconfirmed reports of two US citizens captured in Ukraine, a US State Department spokesperson told reporters at a conference. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters, Putin Issues Russian Passports to Victims of "Forced Ukrainization", Russian War Correspondent in Ukraine Wins "Strength in Truth" Award. Official explanations from the U.S. about the financing of 46 biolaboratories in Ukraine are a '"prosecutor's dream," Igor Kirillov, Chief of Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops of the Russian Armed Forces, said, commenting on a statement that was published on the Pentagon's website. They are antiheroes. The Defense Ministry has confirmed that participants of the Aidar battalion an extremist organization banned in our country including its leaders, surrendered in the suburbs of Severodonetsk. Polish citizens make up the majority of these mercenaries. Canada is in second place with its large Ukrainian diaspora, the U.S. is third and Romania is fourth. Five out of every six American mercenaries have either been destroyed or captured. Two of them were caught near Kharkiv. Earlier on Wednesday, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov pointed out that the two Americans who were captured in Ukraine are mercenaries, therefore, they are not eligible for protection under the Geneva Conventions. He went as a civilian with military training.". How is Russian state TV reporting the war in Ukraine? Americans Alexander Drueke, 39, and Andy Huynh, 27, went missing this month while fighting near Kharkiv. As previously reported, the former At least three foreign nationals have recently been captured fighting for Ukraine, including two British and a Moroccan citizen, who were sentenced to death by pro-Russian officials in Donetsk. We call on Russia and its proxies to respect international humanitarian law, including the rights and protections afforded prisoners of war.. Murekezi also said he was in the same jail as Alexander Drueke and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, two American fighters captured by Russia last month. read more. Archeologist Discovers Secret Tunnel Believed To Lead to Legendary Cleopatra's Tomb, Killer Whale Pack Violently Damages Yacht as Mortified Crew Escape on Raft After Orcas Swam Away. ", Five out of six American mercenaries in Ukraine have either been destroyed or are in prison. Five out of every six American mercenaries have either been destroyed or captured. The British newspaper described them as apparently being the first American citizens captured while fighting for Ukraine, and the whole issue was diplomatically sensitive. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. This is, after all, the main region that uses both Grad and NATO-caliber artillery. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. For two nights, their unit came under heavy bombardment causing eight of the twenty-man unit to abandon their positions. When Peskov was asked if the captured American fighters would also face the death penalty, he simply responded that it all depends on the outcome of the investigation. Seven reasons why the anti-Putin alliance is cracking," saying:] "The Alliance against Putin is smaller than expected, more fragmented and less effective. Putin alone could not have provoked this global energy, food and economic crisis. But on Russian state TV there were already discussions that the two Americans may face the death penalty. And not only ours, but also the service personnel of the DPR and LPR. The Geneva Conventions specifically deny mercenaries the status of lawful combatants, which is granted to regular troops in an armed conflict. These stakes necessitate direct U.S. engagement in determining when and how this war ends. There was nothing. Russia has confirmed that the two captured US mercenaries will be punished for their crimes committed during the war in Ukraine. He had said he does not recommend that other U.S. citizens go to Ukraine. It got worse with few batteries fighters had to use mobile phones and WhatsApp because of an equipment shortage. Since 2015, when the Pentagon began a large-scale financing of Ukrainian projects, multiple cases of infectious diseases have been recorded among military personnel, as well as residents of the Lugansk and Donetsk People's Republics. His argument is that Ukraine has irretrievably lost Donbas, as well as Crimea, and the world has not collapsed from this. About 40 houses and the Topaz radio electronic plant were damaged. Moscow Reports Ukraine Neo-Nazis Uses Civilians as Human Shields in Donetsk and Lugansk Republics After the Battle of Mariupol, Student Loan Forgiveness Canceled? They can also appeal for clemency. The first month of summer is almost over, and Europe is already using gas stored for the winter. To prepare the ground for that pivot, the Biden administration should stop making claims that could tie its own hands at the negotiating table. Thank you for your faith and your generous commitment: contact Michael Walsheuroman_uk@yahoo.co.uk, Tagged as: Army, court, mercenaries, Russia-Ukraine war, Ukraine, war, war crimes. Many of the fighters interviewed said they had less equipment and weapons and, worse, there was no secure way to reach other units. In the spring, gas prices sharply rose, then returned to normal. They are mercenaries and not prisoners of war. The particular needs of a unit will be delivered to the front line. The DPR was established in Ukraines Donetsk region, which rejected the 2014 US seizure of Ukraine and took up arms after the new Ukrainian regime sent the military to take control of Donetsk. Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin and a top Russian official close to President Putin, told NBC News that the Geneva Conventions, a series of international agreements that establish standards for the treatment of hostile military combatants in times of war, would likely not apply to the two captured Americans. Clashes between Ukrainian and Russian forces near the southern city of Kherson over the next two to three weeks could determine control of the only regional capital Russia has seized since its invasion in February, according to a Defense Department official. How else can we understand the Pi-268 project, involving Colorado universities and Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, which dealt with pathogens carried by the Aedes species of mosquitoes. ", [It then quotes an article on the German site, Focus Online, titled, "The West is only hurting itself. ", The Kremlin says that as "mercenaries", the men are not protected by the Geneva Conventions, which outline how prisoners of war should be treated. Citing an unidentified source, the Interfax news agency reported that the men were in the separatist self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) in eastern Ukraine. (Via Telegraph) See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. He complained that the Javelins were unusable due to the lack of batteries to the launch units. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Perhaps its time for the West to learn once again how a rules-based international order is supposed to work. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. The Telegraph said the two men had gone missing during combat last Thursday in the village of Izbitskoe and were apparently captured. So it is necessary to negotiate, and not to encourage Kiev's unrealistic expectations. One American has already been killed fighting for Ukraine. Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) June 9, 2022. As previously reported, the former American military, who volunteered to come to Ukraine to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine, were captured by the Russian military last week in the Kharkiv direction. Putin is sending his muslim Chechen army mercenaries to Ukraine. He warns: [] Pascal expressed that the Ukrainians had lied about how they were getting hammered by Russian forces without knowing intel on Russian positions. Russia cannot guarantee anything, Peskov explained. A video captured the moment 2 US fighter jets collided at a Texas airshow, leaving 6 people dead. Drueke and Huynh are believed to be the first Americans captured by Russian forces since the war began on Feb. 24. [1/3]A still image taken from Russian state TV footage that it said shows Alexander Drueke, a U.S. citizen captured by Russian forces while fighting for Ukraine, at an unknown location, in a still image from a video released on June 17, 2022. Although they can appeal the court decision, the foreign fighters could face the death penalty for their crimes a potential punishment that has not sat well with British or U.S. officials. If its true, well do everything we can to get them safely back home,he said, during a press conference in the White House. Together with allied rebels in the Lugansk region, it fought a bloody war against Ukrainian forces, securing a chunk of the two regions territories. We never comment on them and have no right to interfere in court decisions.". The DPR supreme court found all three guilty of a number of crimes related to their activities while fighting on the side of Ukrainian troops. More information about the deadly work that was commissioned by the Pentagon in the strictest secrecy and and right on Russia's borders can be found in the film "Bioweapons of the Devil's Laboratories". Russia has long claimed that foreign governments were using mercenary forces to meddle in Eastern European geopolitics, including stating in December that more than 120 U.S. mercenaries were found in the Donbass region along the Russian-Ukrainian border, allegedly stockpiling toxic chemical weapons (the State Department denied it ). conscripts. He noted that he originally sympathized with the Ukrainian cause, largely due to the biased media coverage that dominates the West, but quickly discovered upon arriving in Ukraine that there are two sides to this story and I was not getting one of them, referring of course to the Russian side. The republics top court ruled that they were mercenaries and thus not granted privileges that regular prisoners of war would enjoy under international law. The Marine Corps did not respond to a request for Huynhs service record in time for publication. For months, rumors swirled about foreign mercenaries operating in Mariupol, fighting alongside the Ukrainian military as well as pro-Ukrainian militias. In the first weeks of the conflict, a spokesperson for Russias defense ministry, Igor Konashenkov, told state media outlet TASS that foreign mercenaries captured while fighting with Ukraine would not be treated as prisoners of war, saying at best, they can expect to be prosecuted as criminals.. In the early hours of June 19, Russian forces destroyed as many as 200 militants from the 56th Motorized Infantry Brigade, including foreign mercenaries who were part of this brigade in the village of Selidovo. read more. But, to be more precise, it was to develop biological weapons. Simmons pushed back on Peskovs claims, implying that the captured former U.S. military men could have been part of the Ukrainian military and therefore subject to the Geneva Conventions and considered prisoners of war. [Channel One correspondent] Aleksey Kruchinin is there and he is convinced that last month's events in Severodonetsk will eventually be repeated in another part of the Donbas. Willy Joseph Cancel, a 22-year-old American citizen and former U.S. marine, was killed in Ukraine on Monday, according to family members speaking to CNN. On June 9, a court in DPR sentenced foreign fighters, two British citizens and a Moroccan national, to death after accusing them of being mercenaries for Ukraine. Kharkiv, Ukraine, on April 27th, near where the two Americans were reportedly captured, We Thought They Were Dead. The unnamed source insisted that he and his comrades were not mercenaries and claimed he wanted the public to know the story to reducethe chances of them being quietly executed by whoever is holding them further down the chain.The same source has apparently talked to other Western media outlets, including CNN. This photograph taken on May 7, 2022, shows Ukrainian soldier Glib Stryzhko, 25, during an interview with AFP in Zaporizhzhia, in Ukraine. According to a report by the Ministry of Health of the Donetsk People's Republic, in 2016, the incidence of tularemia increased by 9.5 times compared to 2007. A pair of U.S. military veterans apparently operating as mercenaries on behalf of the Ukrainian government were captured in Ukraine by "In Ukraine, they no longer even try to hide the presence of American mercenaries, who, according to the assurances of the American authorities, will not participate in the conflict," the newspaper reported. Theyre soldiers of fortune, and they were involved in illegal activities on the territory of Ukraine, Peskov told Keir Simmons of NBC News, who interviewed the Russian official in Moscow earlier this week. Family The American mercenaries and volunteers, who have joined Ukraine, claim Kyiv misrepresented them and imperiled them. Moore: No quarterback controversy in Arizona, it's Colt McCoy's job, Kari Lake cuts into Katie Hobbs' lead in Arizona governor's race, but Lake's path to victory now harder, Dolly Parton receives $100 million award from Jeff Bezos, Santa Ana winds to blow through SoCal this week, The U.S. States People are Fleeing and Moving To, Full Panel: This is Donald Trumps loss, GOP grassroots throw blame for national upsets, A secretive US Space Force unmanned craft landed after almost 2.5 years in orbit. According to Russian officials, the soldiers of fortune who were engaged in illegal activities in Ukraine which included firing on Russian troops were shown alive and well in video footage last week in a detention center in Donetsk, the regional capital of the Donetsk Peoples Republic (DPR), which is seeking independence from the central government based in Kiev and is recognized as an independent republic by Moscow. Izvestia correspondent Alexander Safiulin spoke with American mercenaries captured in Donbass to find out how they got to the region, as well as what the mood is now in The U.K. Telegraph was the first outlet to identify the two Americans: They are Alexander Drueke, 39, and Andy Huynh, 27. Britons Shaun Pinner and Aiden Aslin and Moroccan citizen Brahim Saadoun were sentenced to death by a DPR court this month after being captured fighting with the Ukrainian army. read more Theyre cutting up their passports and sending them to Kiev. Russia Says Captured Americans are Mercenaries, Not POWs Under Geneva Convention. RU-RTR/Handout via REUTERS TV ATTENTION EDITORS. SNAP Benefits 2023: Midterm Elections May Affect the Increase in Payments; Who Would Be Affected? "We obviously disagree vigorously and we have made our position clear to the Russian government," a senior State Department official told reporters, when asked about Peskov's comments. The viral preparation was created at the Taras Shevchenko National University in Kiev and transported to the US for field testing. Akhmed Dudayev, the Minister for Press of the Chechen Republic, announced the liquidation of a representative of US special services in the Donbass. It cannot both commemorate the Jews killed during the war, and commemorate those who killed the Jews. Some resorted to desperate measures like breaking their weapons to be declared battle damage, while others pretended to be hurt. Washington will do everything to get them home if the reports prove true, a top US official has saidThe US is monitoring media reports that have claimed that two American nationals have been captured in Ukraine while fighting for the Kiev side. EUROPE RENAISSANCEdepends on your support. He signed up with the US Army after 9/11 and held the rank of staff sergeant while serving in Iraq. We are gravely concerned by reports of a sham trial and its judgements against lawful combatants serving in Ukraines Armed Forces, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said following the release of the court decision relating to the captured British and Moroccan foreign fighters, entirely ignoring the facts of the case. Britons Shaun Pinner and Aiden Aslin and Moroccan citizen Brahim Saadoun were sentenced to death by a DPR court this month after being captured fighting with the Ukrainian army. Exclusive: US fighters 'captured' by Russian forces in Ukraine. 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