This photo taken on April 6, 2022 in Hartselle, Alabama, shows US Navy veteran Andy Tai Huynh, who decided to fight Ukraine in the war against Russia. Huyhn and another Alabama veteran have not been known for days, according to relatives, and are considering disappearing. (Jerome Nisa / The Decatur Daily via AP)
This photo taken on April 6, 2022 in Hartselle, Alabama, shows US Navy veteran Andy Tai Huynh, who decided to fight Ukraine in the war against Russia. Huyhn and another Alabama veteran have not been known for days, according to relatives, and are considering disappearing. (Jerome Nisa / The Decatur Daily via AP)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) – Two American veterans from Alabama who were in Ukraine helping in the war against Russia are not known for days and are missing, members of the state congressional delegation said on Wednesday.
Relatives of Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, 27, of Trinity, and Alexander Drueke, 39, of Tuscaloosa, have contacted both the Senate and House offices to request information about the whereabouts. of the men, press advisers said.
Deputy Robert Aderholt said Huynh had offered to go and fight the Ukrainian army against Russia, but his relatives had not heard from him since June 8, when he was in the Kharkiv region. in northeastern Ukraine, near the Russian border. Huynh and Drueke were together, an Aderholt aide said.
“As you can imagine, his loved ones are very worried about him,” Aderholt said in a statement. “My office has consulted with both the United States Department of State and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to try to obtain any possible information.”
Deputy Terri Sewell said Drueke’s mother contacted her office earlier this week after she lost contact with her son.
The U.S. State Department said it was investigating reports that Russian or Russian-backed separatist forces in Ukraine had captured at least two U.S. citizens. If confirmed, they would be the first Americans fighting for Ukraine known to have been captured since the war began on February 24.
“We are closely monitoring the situation and are in contact with the Ukrainian authorities,” the department said in an emailed statement to reporters. He declined further comment, citing privacy considerations.
John Kirby, a White House national security spokesman, said Wednesday that the administration could not confirm reports of missing Americans.
“We will do our best to control it and see what we can learn about it,” he said.
However, he reiterated his warnings against Americans going to Ukraine.
“Ukraine is not the place to travel for Americans,” he said. “If you are passionate about supporting Ukraine, there are many ways to make it safer and just as effective.”
A separatist-controlled Donetsk court sentenced two Britons and a Moroccan man to death last week. The British and Moroccans were accused of being mercenaries and of seeking the violent overthrow of the separatist government in the Donetsk region. The Russian military has said it considers foreigners fighting Ukraine to be mercenaries and says they are not protected as fighters by the Geneva Convention.
Huynh’s girlfriend, Joy Black, publicly posted on Facebook that her family was in contact with the Drueke family and government officials, and that nothing more had been confirmed than that the two were missing.
“Please keep Andy, Alex and all their loved ones in prayer. We just want them to come home,” he wrote.
US MP Adam Kinzinger tweeted that the Americans “have enlisted in the Ukrainian army and therefore have legal combatant protection. As such, we expect members of the Legion to be treated as in accordance with the Geneva Convention “. It was unclear if Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican, had more information about the men.
He was commenting on a tweet sent earlier Wednesday by Task Force Baguette, a group of former U.S. and French military officials, saying two Americans fighting them were captured a week ago. The group said that Ukrainian intelligence confirmed the information.
At the beginning of the war, Ukraine created the International Legion for Foreign Nationals who wanted to help defend themselves against the Russian invasion.
Huynh spoke to his local newspaper, the Decatur Daily, shortly before flying to Eastern Europe in April.
He explained that he was studying robotics at Calhoun Community College, but that he could not stop thinking about the invasion of Russia.
“I know it wasn’t my problem, but there was the feeling that I felt I had to do something,” Huynh told the Decatur Daily. “Two weeks after the start of the war, he ate me inside and I felt sick. I was losing sleep. All I could think about was the situation in Ukraine.”
He said he decided to leave when he learned that young Ukrainians were being recruited into the service.
“When they turned 18, they were forced to enlist in the army to defend their land,” Huynh said. “Honestly, that broke my heart. I’d say that’s probably when I decided I had to do something.”
According to the newspaper, Huynh enlisted in the Marines when he was 19 and served for four years, although he did not see active combat.
He was born and raised in Orange County, California, by Vietnamese immigrants and moved north of Alabama two years ago to be closer to his girlfriend, the newspaper reported.
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Associated Press writers Lynn Berry in Washington and Chris Megerian in Washington contributed to this report.