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The family of one of the three U.S. military personnel who went missing in Ukraine believes he may have been captured after a clash with Russian troops in eastern Ukraine earlier this month.
U.S. military personnel Alexander Druke, 39, and Andy Huin, 27, were reported missing earlier this week following a skirmish with Russian troops on June 9, and the State Department was the third on Thursday. Announced that no US citizens could be found anywhere.
Former U.S. Army Sergeant and Ukrainian Volunteer Druek, who took two tours in Iraq, was part of a Ukrainian platoon that suffered a major fire while maintaining its strategic position on June 9. When the platoon retreated, everyone was explained. With the exception of Dureke and Huynh, Drueke’s family said in a statement to FoxNews Digital.
Ground and drone surveys have so far shown no signs of Drueke.
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“This may mean they are hiding, or they may have been captured,” Drueke’s mother, Bunny Drueke, said in a statement.
She last talked to her son on the phone on June 5th and last received the text on June 8th.
“”[G]Almost everything tomorrow will be dark. Probably the next day, “according to his family, he read his last text.
On June 13, she received a text from another platoon member informing her of the disappearance of her son and other missing US military personnel.
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Drueke left the United States in mid-April and entered Ukraine from Poland. From there he contacted the Ukrainian army and helped train soldiers to operate drones and other weapons before being assigned to the platoon.
“When Russia invaded Ukraine, Alex immediately said he wanted to use his skills to train Ukrainians in how to operate American weapons,” said Bunny Druke. “He is not married, has no children, and he has training and experience. He felt it was his duty to help defend democracy as needed. ”
Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) And Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) Helped families contact the Department of State, the US Embassy in Ukraine, and the International Red Cross.
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Drueke will be 40 years old on June 24th. He hiked the Appalachian Trail before it was closed for COVID-19 in early 2020 and lived in the countryside of West Alabama until he left for Ukraine.
Former Marine Finn is also from his hometown of Alabama Fight in Ukraine He hasn’t been contacted since June 8th, when he told his fiancé Joy Black in April that he wouldn’t be able to contact him for the next “several days.”
“He was telling me for a few days that he’d be busy soon,” Black told Fox News Digital earlier. “He didn’t want to worry about me, so he didn’t tell me anything specifically.”
The State Department told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that it knew of unconfirmed reports of two missing Americans. The ministry is urging Americans not to travel to Ukraine.
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“There are reports of another American whose whereabouts are unknown,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Friday, but “we couldn’t talk about the details of the case.”
“We have not yet raised this to the Russian Federation. It is productive in finding more information about the whereabouts of these individuals, either through our embassy in Moscow or otherwise. If we feel, we don’t hesitate to do it, “he said.
Fox News’ Ronn Blitzer, Jacqui Heinrich, Caitlin McFall, and Ashley Pappa contributed to this report.