The State Department is studying data about captured Americans (Alexander Dryuke and Andy Gyun in the photo)/Collage of Channel 24
The US Department of State is investigating information about Americans. They could have been captured by Russian invaders.
US citizens fought for Ukraine. The study of the data was announced by US State Department Speaker Ned Price on June 16 at a briefing.
The US is processing data on Americans who may be captured by Russians
There have been reports of another American whose whereabouts are not yet known, Price said.
He also added that he could not talk about the specifics of this case, because they do not know all its details. However, he assured:
- the case of the third American is being studied;
- with regard to the other two, they are in contact with their relatives, as well as with Ukraine and the International Committee of the Red Cross;
- There is no data that could indicate the capture of the Americans.
However, the State Department added that if there was information about the capture, they would have been in contact with Russia.
Also reminded that Americans who fought or are fighting for Ukraine are considered prisoners of war in enemy hands. Therefore, they should be subject to the rights in accordance with the Geneva Convention.
It was possible to establish the data of the third American
Information about the third American was told to CNN by his wife Heesung Kim. It is known that the American is a former Marine Gredi Kurpasi. He served in the US Marine Corps for 20 years and only last year, in 2021, he quit.
Already in March 2022, he arrived in Kyiv. The wife says that Kurpasi has skills that, in his opinion, could be useful in Ukraine. After all, he wanted to help the Ukrainian people.
Approximately April 23-24, the woman contacted him for the last time.
At the end of April, he and other members of the International Legion were instructed to occupy an observation post near Kherson. Around this time, Kurpasi stopped communicating with his wife and friends, CNN reported.
What is known about the other two Americans
- Two former US Army personnel who arrived in Ukraine to fight on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and could be captured. In particular, CNN wrote – the other day there was a photo with two Americans in the back. It was assumed that they were taken prisoner north of Kharkov.
- It is preliminary known that they are 39-year-old Alexander Dryuk and 27-year-old Andy Gyun. They didn't get in touch for about a week.
- Dryuke's mothers at the State Department said they were looking into the photo for its authenticity and so on. The woman herself said that her son went to Ukraine to study the military of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to fight Russia, because he understood that if Vladimir Putin was not stopped now, he could go further – all the way to the American shores.
