Headline Roundup • June 20th, 2022
Kremlin Captures Two American Soldiers for 'Endangering' Russian Servicemen
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Two American veterans who went missing in Ukraine have been detained by the Kremlin.
Alex Drueke, 39, and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, 27, could possibly face the death penality after fighting alongside Ukrainian troops. Drueke and Huynh joined the 20,000 people from 52 countries that volunteered to fight with the International Legion of Ukraine after the government put out a call for foreigners to join its fight against Russia. Kremlin chief spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told NBC News (Lean Left bias) on Monday that the two American fighters were "soldiers of fortune" and were not protected by the Geneva Conventions as prisoners of war. The U.S. State Department responded by calling on the Russian government to "live up to their international obligations in their treatment of any individual, including those captured fighting in Ukraine.”
Coverage was mostly similar from outlets across the spectrum. Many left-rated outlets highlighted the "perils" of those who volunteered to help Ukraine fight back against Russia. Some right-rated outlets accentuated concerns that the U.S. will have to borrow money from China and other nations in order to send more "extensive" aid to Ukraine.
Featured Coverage of this Story
Facebook/New York Post
Two American fighters who went missing while defending Ukraine are apparently alive and in Russian custody, Russian state media reported.
Former US servicemen Alexander Drueke, 39, and Andy Huynh, 27, spoke with the Russian state agency RT Friday from a detention center in a Moscow-controlled section of the Donbas region, the outlet said.
The report hints that Drueke and Huynh may face the death penalty for fighting alongside Ukrainian troops — the same sentence handed down by separatists earlier this month to two Brits and a Moroccan captured by Russian forces.
On Monday,...
NBC News
Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman wouldn’t guarantee that two U.S. military veterans captured in Ukraine won’t face the death penalty in an exclusive interview Monday.
“It depends on the investigation,” Dmitry Peskov told NBC News senior international correspondent Keir Simmons when he was asked whether Alexander Drueke and Andy Huynh would “face the same fate” as two British citizens and a Moroccan who were sentenced to death by Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine this month.
The families of Drueke, 39, and Huynh, 27, reported them missing last week.
RU-RTR/Handout via REUTERS
Two Americans detained in Ukraine while fighting on the Ukrainian side of the war were mercenaries who endangered the lives of Russian servicemen and should face responsibility for their actions, the Kremlin said on Monday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, interviewed by the U.S. television network NBC news, also said U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner, held in Russia for more than two months, was guilty of drug offences and not a hostage.
Peskov's comments were the first formal acknowledgment that the two men, identified in U.S. reports as Andy Huynh, 27,...
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