Alexander J. Drueke (left) and Andy Tai Huynh (right), two US mercenaries captured in Ukraine. Photo: HispanTV.
Russia has confirmed that the two captured US mercenaries will be punished for their crimes committed during the war in Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov said on Sunday, June 19, in an interview with US television network MSNBC, that Russia considers that “they [the detained US mercenaries] should be held accountable for the crimes they have committed and those crimes should be investigated. They have been detained in the right place to ensure that the investigation of their crimes is carried out.”
According to Peskov, the captured mercenaries are “soldiers of fortune” who have participated in illegal acts in the Russia-Ukraine border areas, such as shooting and bombing Russian soldiers. Therefore, these mercenaries have to be held accountable for their crimes.
Peskov added that the two US mercenaries, formerly soldiers in the US armed forces, are not part of the Ukrainian Army, and for this reason the Geneva Convention does not apply to them. When asked if the two soldiers are prisoners of war, he stated, “I would not go into detail explaining the legal aspects of captivity… One thing is clear, they have committed crimes.”
As reported by media, Alexander J. Drueke, who was previously a member in the US Army, and Andy Tai Huynh, who was in the Marine Corps, were fighting near Kharkov, Ukraine, until last week, since when have they been missing.
Moreover, on Wednesday, June 15, Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry, made a warning to “soldiers of fortune” who are fighting on the side of Ukrainian neo-Nazis or who intend to join them, that they may face the death penalty if captured. There is no death penalty in Russian law, however.
Although Ukraine has not provided exact figures on the number of mercenaries fighting on their side, Moscow says that there are nearly 7,000 foreign fighters from more than 60 countries, mainly from Poland, the United States, Canada and Romania, in the Ukrainian forces.
(HispanTV)
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/GMS/SC
