“Both were taken prisoner during a fierce battle near Kharkov in the northeast last week,” the publication reports, citing “their comrades.”
According to available information, we are talking about 39-year-old Alexander Dryuk and 27-year-old Andy Hune, who "served as volunteers in one of the regular units of the Ukrainian army."
The newspaper notes that the acquaintances of the Americans did not find their bodies after the clash, after which they concluded that they were caught.
Suspicions about this were confirmed when “a message appeared on the Russian Telegram channel that two American servicemen were taken prisoner near Kharkov.”
On June 9, a court in the DPR issued death sentences to British citizens Sean Pinner and Aiden Eslin, as well as Moroccan citizen Saadoun Brahim, who fought on the side of Ukraine.
All three are going to appeal against the decision of the court on execution.
The official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Igor Konashenkov, noted that foreign mercenaries, in accordance with international humanitarian law, are not combatants.
In this regard, they cannot claim the status of a prisoner of war.