(FreedomBeacon.com)- Last month, two US veterans who had been captured by the Russians while fighting for Ukraine were spared execution after Saudi Arabia brokered an exchange of POWs between Russia and Ukraine.
Alabama veterans Alexander Dreuke and Andy Huynh, who were captured by Russian forces in June while defending Kharkiv, were taken to the US Embassy in Saudi Arabia two weeks ago as part of the prisoner swap that also included five UK nationals, one Moroccan, a Swede, and a Croatian.
As part of the deal, which was mediated by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Ukraine released an unknown number of Russian prisoners.
The two Alabama vets were the first known US citizens to be captured by Russian forces in the ongoing war. According to Andy Huynh’s fiancé, the two men signed up to fight for Ukraine after watching footage of the Russian invasion. The two men did not know each other before joining.
After they were captured, Drueke and Huynh were held prisoner by pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine.
They were paraded before cameras, with Russian state TV airing interviews with the men in which they expressed sympathy for Russia and proclaimed they were “against war.”
Shortly after their capture, Russia announced that the two Americans were “soldiers of fortune” and would face a firing squad.
The two Americans were back on US soil two days later, arriving in New York City on September 23. The following day, they traveled by plane to Birmingham, Alabama where they were finally reunited with their families.
