Washington yet to inquire about captured US mercenaries: Zakharova

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
16 Jun 13:02

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman announces that the US has not yet launched a formal investigation with Moscow into the two captured Americans.

2 US mercenaries were captured by Russian forces in Kharkov: Andy Huynh, 27, and Alexander Drueke, 39

The US has not yet lodged a formal inquiry with Moscow regarding the two US mercenaries captured by Russian forces near the Ukrainian city of Kharkov.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told the Solovyov Live show, on Thursday, when asked about this matter in specific “I do not have such information, and I have been checking it every day. I will check it today as well. We disclose to the public all information about the fate of arrested mercenaries or those on trial... I want to reiterate that I will double-check whether there is any additional information on this issue.”

On Wednesday, The Telegraph reported that these are the first two American mercenaries captured in Ukraine by Russian forces. The two captives, according to the newspaper, are former US servicemen, Alexander Drueke, 39, and Andy Huynh, 27.

On the other hand, US Defense Department spokesperson John Kirby said, on the same day, that the US had claimed to discourage Americans from becoming boots on the ground in Ukraine.

The US State Department is in contact with Ukrainian authorities regarding this situation, according to Fox News.

"The US government is closely monitoring the situation and is in contact with Ukrainian authorities, but due to privacy concerns, the US government has no further comment," according to the report.

US involvement in Ukraine

The New York Times (NYT), citing senior US officials, claimed that Washington provided Kiev with intelligence that led to the death of high-ranking Russian officers whose number is not specified.

The newspaper's sources declined to specify how many Russian generals had been killed with US assistance.

But Ukrainian officials claim they have killed 12 Russian generals on the front lines, "a number that has astonished military analysts," the NYT said, adding that the US is said to prohibit itself from providing intelligence on Russia's "most senior" military leaders to Kiev.

According to the newspaper, the US and other NATO allies are secretly providing real-time battlefield intelligence to Ukraine.

That intelligence in particular includes anticipated Russian troop movements after the start of the second phase of the war in Ukraine.

Furthermore, Republican senator Rand Paul, in May, said that Congress needs to borrow money from China to send aid to Ukraine, just a day before the US Senate voted by majority to send $40 billion in military and economic aid to Ukraine and its allies. According to Investopedia, the US owes China $1 trillion in debt.

"To borrow the money from China simply to send it to Ukraine makes no sense and makes us weaker not stronger," Paul said on the Senate floor regarding the aid package.

Last February, the US Treasury announced that its national debt had hit a record high of over $30 trillion, in addition to the inflation which has skyrocketed reaching the US' biggest jump in 40 years.