Russia Says Three Tennessee National Guard Members Killed in Ukraine. Pentagon Says “Nyet”

The National Guard Bureau is refuting claims that Tennessee National Guard members were killed in Ukraine, rebuking what officials called a “patently false” Russian media report.

Russian media outlet Pravda reported that three members of the Tennessee National Guard died while fighting in Ukraine, calling the men “mercenaries,” and even listing names for those they claimed died.

“The three soldiers identified in the article are either current or former members of the Tennessee National Guard,” the NGB statement reads. “They are accounted for, safe and not, as the article headline erroneously states, US mercenaries killed in Donetsk People’s Republic.”

NGB’s statement also accused Russian media of targeting the individuals because of articles from 2018 carried on the Pentagon website DVIDS. Photos were taken of the troops at the time because they were deployed as part of the Multinational Training Group-Ukraine under the Tennessee Guard’s 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment. (Read more about the purported killing of three Tennessee National Guard members HERE)