Two American Volunteer Fighters Captured

On June 9th, two Americans were captured during a battle against Putin’s war machine. They were serving alongside the Zelenski’s regular army units.

Andy Huynh and Alexander Drueke are believed to be the Americans captured. A source close to the situation told The Daily Telegraph, “We were out on a mission, and the whole thing went absolutely crazy, with bad intel. We were told the town was clear when it turned out the Russians were already assaulting it.”

The unnamed source says that he believes the men were taken out by an explosion. He was unsure if the blast came from an anti-tank mine or a tank shooting at them. Either way, the two Americans ended up being captured.

Alexander J. Drueke, 39, had previously served in the U.S. Army. His mother, Lois Drueke, said someone called her from the warzone to tell her that her son was probably captured.

Alexander told family members that he was training local forces to use the American-made weapons sent over by the United States. “Alex felt very strongly that he had been trained in ways that he could help the [redacted] be strong and push Putin back. He went over there not to fight but to train,” his mother stated.

Drueke’s Army career started when he was deployed to Kuwait from December 2004 to December 2005. He then served in Iraq from November 2008 to July 2009. He also was enlisted as a chemical operations specialist in the Army Reserve from 2002 to 2014, leaving as a staff sergeant. He battled post-traumatic stress since bidding farewell to the military, but his mother said that he seemed to find purpose in the current mission.

The other American, Andy Huynh, 27, was born in California and grew up in Alabama. Before volunteering for the war in Europe, he served 4 years in the U.S. Marines. The Marine Corps confirmed that he was an engineer equipment operator and was a corporal when he left the service in 2018.

WAAY 31, ABC News interviewed Andy Huynh before he was captured. In the interview, Andy said, “I made peace with the decision. I know that there is a potential of me dying. I’m willing to give my life for what I believe is right, for what I’ve been taught what is right.”

Joining this fight is dangerous for foreigners because their own countries haven’t declared war on the country they are fighting against. That means that after they are captured, they are on their own.

The Washington Post reported that the United States continues to discourage its citizens from joining the fight against Putin’s invasion of Europe.

“We are closely monitoring the situation and are in contact with [redacted] authorities,” the statement said. “ … We also once again reiterate U.S. citizens should not travel to [redacted] due to the active armed conflict and the singling out of U.S. citizens in [redacted] by Russian government security official.”

Speaking to the media Wednesday afternoon, White House spokesman John Kirby said he had no information to share about the missing Americans or whether the U.S. government believes they have been taken captive.