Two Americans Captured Fighting for Ukraine Dodge Russian Firing Squad

Two U.S. veterans from Alabama branded “soldiers of fortune” by Moscow after being captured fighting for Ukraine have been spared their date with a firing squad after a Saudi-brokered prisoner swap.

Alexander Drueke, 39, and Andy Huynh, 27, who were captured in June while defending Kharkiv, were at the U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia after being freed in the exchange, a representative of their families told Reuters Wednesday.

“We are thrilled to announce that Alex and Andy are free,” the representative said in a statement. “We deeply appreciate everyone’s prayers and especially the close communication and support of our elected officials, Ukrainian Ambassador Markarova, and our members of the US embassies in Ukraine and Saudi Arabia and the U.S. Department of State.”

The swap was part of a deal that also included five British nationals, one Moroccan, one Swede, and one Croatian. It was mediated by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi foreign ministry said. Ukrainian officials released an unknown number of Russian captives as their part of the deal.

Drueke and Huynh were the first known U.S. citizens to be captured by Russian forces. Huynh’s fiancé, Joy Black, told Reuters at the time the men signed up to fight after seeing television footage of the Russian invasion, which began February 24. (Read more from “Two Americans Captured Fighting for Ukraine Dodge Russian Firing Squad” HERE)

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