Two Americans captured by Russian-backed forces while fighting in Ukraine say they wished for death just before being released in a prisoner exchange last month.
What You Need To Know
- Two Americans captured by Russian-backed forces while fighting in Ukraine say they wished for death just before being released in a prisoner exchange last month
- In an interview with ABC News, Alex Drueke and Andy Huynh — both U.S. military veterans — said the final hours before they were freed were the most trying of their three-month captivity, which included being tortured.
- On June 9, they were captured during what they described as a reconnaissance mission associated with Ukraine’s international legion, composed of foreign volunteers
- Drueke and Huynh said they were tortured as Russian-backed fighters tried to get the to confess to being CIA agents
In an interview with ABC News, Alex Drueke and Andy Huynh — both U.S. military veterans — said the final hours before they were freed were the most trying of their three-month captivity, which included being tortured.
“We were bound again,” Drueke said. “We had bags put on her head. They took packing tape and tightly wrapped that around our eyes and then stacked us, locked us together in the in the back of a military truck.”
“We prayed for death,” Huynh said. “We just wanted to die. We just wanted it to end.”
“In my head … if it is an exchange, I don’t care. This just has to stop, Drueke said.
“The process to getting freed was a very high price,” Huynh said.
Drueke, 40, and Huynh, 27, were among hundreds of Americans who went to Ukraine early on to help in the fight against Russia. Not able to stand the images of Ukrainians feeling their homes, they went despite knowing the U.S. government was urging Americans not to join the war.
On June 9, they were captured during what they described as a reconnaissance mission associated with Ukraine’s international legion, composed of foreign volunteers. It was their first and last mission in Ukraine.
“What should have been a simple recon mission wasn’t a simple recon mission,” Huynh said.
Their platoon came under heavy fire in eastern Ukraine. When the troop reassembled at a rally point, Drueke and Hyunh, who are both from Alabama, did not show up.
Drueke told ABC News they managed to evade capture in thick woods for about eight yours.
“When we surrendered, they stripped of us all our all our equipment, they put us on our knees, bound our hands, put bags on our heads, and we were pretty darn sure they were going to execute us,” Drueke said.
Drueke and Huynh said they were tortured as Russian-backed fighters tried to get the to confess to being CIA agents. Threatened with being raped, killed or having their fingers cut off, the two Americans appeared on Russian television delivering pro-Kremlin propaganda.
Some of their injuries are still visible today, including bruises on their wrists from tight bindings and scars on Huynh’s back from bedbugs.
Drueke and Huynh were released Sept. 21 in a prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia that was brokered by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Eight other foreign prisoners captured while fighting for Ukraine were also freed.
Despite their harrowing experience, Drueke and Huynh said they have no regrets about going to Ukraine.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
