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      in US Politics

      Captured US veteran told mom captors were ‘anxious’ to start release talks

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      Captured US veteran told mom captors were ‘anxious’ to start release talksIn a statement, Lois Drueke said she was ‘happy to hear his voice and know he’s alive and all right’ An Alabama army veteran who was captured in Ukraine while voluntarily helping the country fight Russian invaders spoke with his mother on Tuesday and said his captors were “anxious to begin negotiations for his release”, according to his family.US state department spoke by phone to veteran captured in Ukraine, family saysRead moreAlex Drueke did not communicate any demands from his captors or say when negotiations should start during the 10-minute conversation with his mom, said Lois “Bunny” Drueke, in a statement Wednesday from her and his aunt, Dianna Shaw.But Drueke’s mention of possible negotiations for his release came after the leader of the Russian-controlled territory Donetsk in Ukraine – where he is being detained – said he did not plan to swap him or another captured Alabama veteran for Russian prisoners of war.Bunny Drueke on Wednesday also said that her son “sounded tired and stressed, and he was clearly reciting some things he had been made to practice or read, but it was wonderful to hear his voice and know he’s alive and all right”. She added that he described spending most of his time in captivity but has food, water and bedding, and he asked repeatedly about the well-being of his dog, a mastiff named Diesel.Additionally, Alex Drueke, 40, said he had not spoken with his fellow Alabama prisoner in Donetsk, Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh. He presumed Huynh, 27, was being held in solitary confinement as well.“I told him I was doing everything I knew to do to help get him and Andy released,” Bunny Drueke added.Alex Drueke completed two tours of combat with the US army in Iraq – leaving him with post-traumatic stress disorder – before arriving in Ukraine via Poland in April, according to his mother. He was teaching Ukrainian soldiers how to use weapons they received from other countries in their fight against Russia’s invasion, which began in February.Tuesday’s talk was the first communication between mother and son since 8 June, when he texted her and told her he would be out of reach for the next few days. A member of Drueke’s unit later called his mother and told her that he and Huynh had been captured by Russian forces during a battle on 9 June north of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.He and Huynh, who previously served with the US marines, were taken to a detention center in Donetsk, where Russia’s moratorium on the death penalty is not in effect. The Kremlin has claimed both men face execution, after a court in Donetsk gave death sentences to two Britons and a Moroccan national caught fighting for Ukraine.Drueke spoke with the US state department before the follow-up conversation with his mom.A Russian state news agency on Wednesday released an interview showing Drueke recounting how his only combat experience in Ukraine occurred on the day of his capture.“I didn’t fire a shot,” Drueke said, according to the news agency Reuters, who described his words as an apparent plea for leniency. “I would hope that would play a factor in whatever sentence I do or don’t receive.”Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said his government would do what it could to ensure the safe return of Drueke and Huynh, labeling the American pair “heroes” for volunteering to help his nation fight Russia.“We are grateful the Ukrainian government is standing behind Alex and Andy,” Shaw’s statement Wednesday said.TopicsUS newsUkraineUS politicsReuse this content More

    • 113 Shares179 Views

      in World Politics

      Who Can Put a Price on the Ukraine War?

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      The Fair Observer website uses digital cookies so it can collect statistics on how many visitors come to the site, what content is viewed and for how long, and the general location of the computer network of the visitor. These statistics are collected and processed using the Google Analytics service. Fair Observer uses these aggregate statistics from website visits to help improve the content of the website and to provide regular reports to our current and future donors and funding organizations. The type of digital cookie information collected during your visit and any derived data cannot be used or combined with other information to personally identify you. Fair Observer does not use personal data collected from its website for advertising purposes or to market to you.As a convenience to you, Fair Observer provides buttons that link to popular social media sites, called social sharing buttons, to help you share Fair Observer content and your comments and opinions about it on these social media sites. These social sharing buttons are provided by and are part of these social media sites. They may collect and use personal data as described in their respective policies. Fair Observer does not receive personal data from your use of these social sharing buttons. It is not necessary that you use these buttons to read Fair Observer content or to share on social media. More

    • 125 Shares119 Views

      in World Politics

      Boris Johnson Goes “The Full Monty” at the G7 Summit

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      The Fair Observer website uses digital cookies so it can collect statistics on how many visitors come to the site, what content is viewed and for how long, and the general location of the computer network of the visitor. These statistics are collected and processed using the Google Analytics service. Fair Observer uses these aggregate statistics from website visits to help improve the content of the website and to provide regular reports to our current and future donors and funding organizations. The type of digital cookie information collected during your visit and any derived data cannot be used or combined with other information to personally identify you. Fair Observer does not use personal data collected from its website for advertising purposes or to market to you.As a convenience to you, Fair Observer provides buttons that link to popular social media sites, called social sharing buttons, to help you share Fair Observer content and your comments and opinions about it on these social media sites. These social sharing buttons are provided by and are part of these social media sites. They may collect and use personal data as described in their respective policies. Fair Observer does not receive personal data from your use of these social sharing buttons. It is not necessary that you use these buttons to read Fair Observer content or to share on social media. More

    • 113 Shares199 Views

      in World Politics

      Russian Imperialism, Not NATO Expansion, Caused the Ukraine War

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      The Fair Observer website uses digital cookies so it can collect statistics on how many visitors come to the site, what content is viewed and for how long, and the general location of the computer network of the visitor. These statistics are collected and processed using the Google Analytics service. Fair Observer uses these aggregate statistics from website visits to help improve the content of the website and to provide regular reports to our current and future donors and funding organizations. The type of digital cookie information collected during your visit and any derived data cannot be used or combined with other information to personally identify you. Fair Observer does not use personal data collected from its website for advertising purposes or to market to you.As a convenience to you, Fair Observer provides buttons that link to popular social media sites, called social sharing buttons, to help you share Fair Observer content and your comments and opinions about it on these social media sites. These social sharing buttons are provided by and are part of these social media sites. They may collect and use personal data as described in their respective policies. Fair Observer does not receive personal data from your use of these social sharing buttons. It is not necessary that you use these buttons to read Fair Observer content or to share on social media. More

    • 138 Shares179 Views

      in World Politics

      How It Took Six Years to Achieve the Victory of Polarization

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      The Fair Observer website uses digital cookies so it can collect statistics on how many visitors come to the site, what content is viewed and for how long, and the general location of the computer network of the visitor. These statistics are collected and processed using the Google Analytics service. Fair Observer uses these aggregate statistics from website visits to help improve the content of the website and to provide regular reports to our current and future donors and funding organizations. The type of digital cookie information collected during your visit and any derived data cannot be used or combined with other information to personally identify you. Fair Observer does not use personal data collected from its website for advertising purposes or to market to you.As a convenience to you, Fair Observer provides buttons that link to popular social media sites, called social sharing buttons, to help you share Fair Observer content and your comments and opinions about it on these social media sites. These social sharing buttons are provided by and are part of these social media sites. They may collect and use personal data as described in their respective policies. Fair Observer does not receive personal data from your use of these social sharing buttons. It is not necessary that you use these buttons to read Fair Observer content or to share on social media. More

    • 175 Shares159 Views

      in US Politics

      ‘It gives us great hope’: mom of missing US serviceman says video is authentic

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      ‘It gives us great hope’: mom of missing US serviceman says video is authenticA video of Alexander Drueke expressing his love for his mother has not yet been validated by the state department The mother of an American military veteran who volunteered to defend Ukraine from Russian invaders and was reportedly captured recently said a video of him expressing his love for her gave her “great hope”.Lois Drueke told the Guardian on Friday that she believes the video of her son Alexander Drueke – distributed by Russian state media – is authentic because of a phrase he uttered in the clip with his distinctively deep voice.Lois Drueke declined to specify what that phrase was, but in the video, her 39-year-old son is seen saying: “Mom, I just want to let you know that I’m alive, and I hope to be back home as soon as I can. So love diesel for me. Love you.”Third American volunteer fighter reported missing in UkraineRead moreShe added that the US state department, which is investigating the capture of Drueke and at least one other American volunteer in Ukraine, had still not officially confirmed the video’s authenticity. But, she acknowledged, “We think it’s Alex – it looks like him, [and] it sounds like him.“Just seeing him move, just hearing his voice, gives us great hope. I don’t want to get my hopes up too much, but it does seem to be him.”The brief video clip in question began circulating after US president Joe Biden told reporters that he had been briefed on the disappearances in Ukraine of Drueke, his fellow military veteran and Alabama resident Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, and Grady Kurpasi, who apparently went missing in April.“We don’t know where they are,” Biden said to reporters. “But I want to reiterate: Americans should not be going to Ukraine now.”Biden’s remarks came a day after a photograph surfaced that appeared to show both Drueke and Huynh in the back of a military truck with their hands tied behind their back, the clearest piece of evidence that they were no longer missing but had been arrested by Russian forces invading Ukraine.That photo was followed on Friday with the video apparently depicting Drueke addressing his mother, along with another clip in which he said in English, “I am against war.”Videos of Huynh also surfaced, including one with Russian state media branding in which he calmly recounts a purported version of events on the day he and Drueke were captured.Huynh, 27, said he and Drueke were part of a unit with a large number of French nationals that became locked in a gunfight with Russian troops.“The Ukrainians were retreating, and we were asked to cover their retreat,” Huynh says in the clip. “When we were covering them, the Russian forces overran our position.”Huynh said he and a colleague waited for three hours “in a fighting hole just to make sure the coast is clear”. After emerging, the pair walked five more hours through the woods and on to a road where they “surrendered” to Russian forces, Huynh said on the video.The Telegraph, which was first to report that Drueke and Huynh had gone missing, cited an account from an unnamed fellow fighter who said the pair were taken prisoner after a battle with Russian forces north-east of Kharkiv on 9 June.Lois Drueke cautioned against taking everything in the videos at face value. She said her son – before going to Ukraine – had warned her that he could be taken prisoner and, if that happened, might be made to say inauthentic things on video by his captors.Many have called on people to not share videos of those taken captive during the Ukraine-Russia war, arguing that they violate the Geneva conventions’ prohibition against making a spectacle of imprisoned combatants. But media organizations can report on such images without breaching the conventions, which apply only to nation states or other so-called detaining powers.Drueke, Huynh and Kurpasi are believed to be among hundreds of Americans – and possibly more – who went to Ukraine in hopes of helping the country repel the Russian invasion that began in February.Drueke served two combat tours in Iraq and was teaching Ukraine’s troops how to use American-made weapons. Huynh and Kurpasi each previously spent time with the US Marines.Captured American-born defenders of Ukraine create a diplomatically tricky situation for the US. The US is pumping billions of dollars into supporting Ukraine’s defense but is avoiding a direct clash with Russia.Drueke’s aunt, Dianna Shaw, on Friday pleaded with the captors of her nephew and Huynh to treat them “humanely”.She also said that a bipartisan congressional delegation from Alabama was working hard to keep his and Huynh’s loved ones informed about their apparent capture. Shaw singled out the aides of both Democratic House representative Terri Sewell, of Huntsville, and Republican senator Richard Shelby, of Birmingham, as being particularly open about where things stood.“We are very encouraged by the way all … have communicated consistently with us and with each other,” Shaw said.TopicsUS militaryUkraineRussiaAlabamaUS politicsReuse this content More

    • 88 Shares169 Views

      in World Politics

      A Just Ceasefire or Just a Ceasefire?

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      The Fair Observer website uses digital cookies so it can collect statistics on how many visitors come to the site, what content is viewed and for how long, and the general location of the computer network of the visitor. These statistics are collected and processed using the Google Analytics service. Fair Observer uses these aggregate statistics from website visits to help improve the content of the website and to provide regular reports to our current and future donors and funding organizations. The type of digital cookie information collected during your visit and any derived data cannot be used or combined with other information to personally identify you. Fair Observer does not use personal data collected from its website for advertising purposes or to market to you.As a convenience to you, Fair Observer provides buttons that link to popular social media sites, called social sharing buttons, to help you share Fair Observer content and your comments and opinions about it on these social media sites. These social sharing buttons are provided by and are part of these social media sites. They may collect and use personal data as described in their respective policies. Fair Observer does not receive personal data from your use of these social sharing buttons. It is not necessary that you use these buttons to read Fair Observer content or to share on social media. More

    • 138 Shares169 Views

      in World Politics

      The International Community cannot allow Mariupol to be the next Aleppo

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      The Fair Observer website uses digital cookies so it can collect statistics on how many visitors come to the site, what content is viewed and for how long, and the general location of the computer network of the visitor. These statistics are collected and processed using the Google Analytics service. Fair Observer uses these aggregate statistics from website visits to help improve the content of the website and to provide regular reports to our current and future donors and funding organizations. The type of digital cookie information collected during your visit and any derived data cannot be used or combined with other information to personally identify you. Fair Observer does not use personal data collected from its website for advertising purposes or to market to you.As a convenience to you, Fair Observer provides buttons that link to popular social media sites, called social sharing buttons, to help you share Fair Observer content and your comments and opinions about it on these social media sites. These social sharing buttons are provided by and are part of these social media sites. They may collect and use personal data as described in their respective policies. Fair Observer does not receive personal data from your use of these social sharing buttons. It is not necessary that you use these buttons to read Fair Observer content or to share on social media. More