US military veterans Andy Huynh, left, and Alexander Drueke have been released after months in Russian captivity. Photo / AP.
US military veterans Andy Huynh, left, and Alexander Drueke have been released after months in Russian captivity. Photo / AP.
Two US military veterans who disappeared three months ago while fighting Russia with Ukrainian forces were among 10 prisoners, including five British nationals, released by Russian-backed separatists as part of a prisoner exchange mediated by Saudi Arabia, officials said yesterday .
Alex Drueke, 40, and Andy Huynh, 27, went missing in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine near the Russian border on June 9. Both had travelled to Ukraine independently and became friends because they are from Alabama.
The families announced their release in a joint statement from an aunt of Drueke.
"They are safely in the custody of the US embassy in Saudi Arabia and after medical checks and debriefing they will return to the States," the statement said.
Shaw said both men have spoken with relatives and are in "pretty good shape," according to an official with the US Embassy.
The Saudis released a statement saying it helped secure the release of 10 prisoners from Morocco, the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Croatia.
The UK said five British nationals had been released, and Health Minister Robert Jenrick said one of them was Aiden Aslin, 28, who had been sentenced to death after he was captured in eastern Ukraine.
"Aiden's return brings to an end months of agonising uncertainty for Aiden's loving family in Newark who suffered every day of Aiden's sham trial but never lost hope. As they are united as a family once more, they can finally be at peace," Jenrick tweeted.
British Prime Minister Liz Truss heralded the release on social media.
"Hugely welcome news that five British nationals held by Russian-backed proxies in eastern Ukraine are being safely returned, ending months of uncertainty and suffering for them and their families," she tweeted.
British citizen Aiden Aslin stands behind bars in a courtroom in Donetsk. Photo / AP
Moroccan media reported that the released prisoners included Brahim Saadoun, 21, who was sentenced to death in June after being accused of terrorism and trying to overturn the constitutional order. Captured by Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine, the court claimed he was a mercenary, while Saadoun's father said he had enlisted in Ukraine's regular army.
Russian state television had previously said Russian-backed separatists were holding Drueke and Huynh in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. The US does not recognise the sovereignty of the Donetsk People's Republic and has no diplomatic relations with them, which made it necessary for others to lead efforts to get the men released.
Drueke joined the Army at 19 after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, and he believed he could help Ukrainian fighters because of his training and experience with weapons. Drueke left in mid-April.
Drueke's mother received a call from Saudi Arabia yesterday morning and an embassy worker handed the phone to the man.
Huynh moved to north Alabama two years ago from his native California and lived about 120 miles (193kilometress) from Drueke. Before leaving for Europe, Huynh told his local newspaper, The Decatur Daily, he couldn't stop thinking about Russia's invasion.
"I know it wasn't my problem, but there was that gut feeling that I felt I had to do something," Huynh told the paper. "Two weeks after the war began, it kept eating me up inside and it just felt wrong. I was losing sleep. ... All I could think about was the situation in Ukraine."
Huynh told his fiance he wants a meal from McDonald's and a Pepsi when he returns home, Shaw said.
The two men bonded over their home state and were together when their unit came under heavy fire. Relatives spoke with Drueke several times by phone while the two were being held.
