In June, State Department spokesman Ned Price said that the United States has information about three Americans who disappeared during the hostilities in Ukraine. Two of them are volunteers Aleksander Druke and Andy Hyunh, who were captured on June 9 during a fierce battle near Kharkiv. The name of the third American has just been announced.
As The Guardian writes, the Russians captured an African-American civilian, Suedi Murekezi — he did not take part in hostilities and was detained for allegedly participating in pro-Ukrainian rallies.
35-year-old Murekezi lived in Kherson since 2020, where he ran a business. According to the detaineeʼs brother, Murekezi called him on the morning of July 7 and informed him that he was in Donetsk prison, where Druke and Hyunh are being held. He told his brother that the Russians were using him in propaganda videos. On June 10, videos of Murekezi began to appear on the social networks of the occupiers.
Kherson friends of the American said that he disappeared when he went to look for fuel for his car.
The U.S. State Department said it was aware of Murekeziʼs fate.
- On July 12, The Washington Post wrote that the US is trying to get Druke and Hyunh out of Russian captivity.
- 28-year-old British volunteer Aiden Aslin, 48-year-old ex-serviceman of the Royal English Regiment Sean Pinner and 21-year-old Moroccan citizen Brahim are also held in the "DNR". They want to execute all three.
- Russia does not want to guarantee the safety of captured US and British citizens and claims that the provisions of the Geneva Conventions do not apply to them.