BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — Days after being captured in Ukraine, footage from two Alabama army veterans has been launched.
On Friday, movies that includes Alex Drueke and Andy Huynh was launched on Telegram from reporters with RT, a state-run Russian media outlet. Drueke and Huhn, who’re believed to be the primary American prisoners of struggle within the Ukraine-Russia battle, had been known as “mercenaries.”
Drueke and Huynh had been performing as volunteers with a Ukrainian unit after they had been captured throughout an operation outdoors Kharviv by the Russians.
Drueke, who’s initially from Tuscaloosa and spent two Army excursions in Iraq, was seen in a single video addressed to his mom, Lois.
“Mother, I simply wished to let you recognize that I’m alive and I hope to be again dwelling as quickly as I can, so love Diesel (Drueke’s canine) for me,” Drueke informed RT correspondent Corr Kosarev in a video posted to Telegram. “Love you.”
Kosarev wrote the next description (translated from Russian to English by Google Translate) within the video for Drueke:
“The captured American mercenary Alexander Dryuke turned to his mom by me. He stated that he was alive, and stated hiya to his canine named Diesel. Hope to return dwelling. We’ll see. Watch the interview on RT quickly. There are two of them, and fairly lately they couldn’t even discover Ukraine on the map.”
In a collection of movies on Kosarev’s web page, Huynh mentioned surrendering to Russian forces, in addition to calling lots of the Ukrainian army items “corrupt.” Huynh, a Marine who had been residing in Trinity, Alabama earlier than going to Ukraine, could be seen saying in one video saying that media protection of the struggle was “propaganda.”
“Initially, when the battle began on February 24, I noticed numerous information, and once more, I now imagine that it was propaganda from the West facet, not particularly simply America, however the West as a complete that stated that Russian forces had been indiscriminately killing civilians,” Huynh stated. “Throughout my travels, I didn’t see that.”
Huynh additionally stated he was being handled humanely by his Russian captors.
“They gave us water after we wanted them,” he stated. “At nighttime, after we had been in captivity, it obtained very chilly they usually gave us blankets to maintain heat. We couldn’t transfer as a result of we had been certain so we don’t escape, and they might readjust our blankets, too.”
In one other video, Drueke and Huynh could be seen expressing disapproval for the struggle, as soon as in English and once more in Russian.
“My title is Alexander Drueke, I’m towards struggle,” Drueke stated.
Alabama’s members of the U.S. Home and Senate have been involved with the U.S. State Division about Drueke and Huynh.
