"Americans shouldn't be going to Ukraine", says US President Joe Biden after being briefed on reports about several Americans missing in the Eastern European country.
"We don't know where they are", Biden added, when he was asked whether he was concerned with reports about three Americans reportedly missing in Ukraine.
Unconfirmed media reports suggest that US citizens Alexander Drueke, 39, and Andy Huynh, 27, were captured by Russian forces near Kharkov. The reports said the two Americans who had gone to Ukraine to fight against Russia are a US Army veteran and US Marine Corps veteran, respectively. A third fighter allegedly missing in the Eastern European country is believed to be former US Marine Grady Kurpasi, CNN reported, citing his wife.
According to CNN, the last time Kurpasi talked to his friends was on 23-24 April. He reportedly served in the US Marine Corps for about 20 years and retired in November 2021. He was believed to have arrived in Ukraine on 7 March.
"For him personally, he has a skill set that he feels he can give back. He wanted to go and help the Ukrainian people. He wasn't really planning on fighting," George Heath, a family friend, told CNN.
Heath told the channel that in late April, Kurpasi, along with other volunteers who travelled to Ukraine to fight against Russian and Donbass forces, were tasked with running an observation post near Kherson, around the time the ex-marine stopped communicating with his wife and friends back in the United States.
Ned Price, spokesman for the State Department, told a Thursday press briefing that the Biden administration was in touch with the families of two Americans allegedly captured by the Russian military in Ukraine, but has not yet discussed the matter with the Russian government.
"We're closely monitoring the situation. We are in contact with the Ukrainian authorities, as well as with the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the families of the two reported missing US citizens", Price said of the unverified reports.
For her part, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said that those reports couldn't be confirmed so far.
"We don't know where their whereabouts are. We are working very hard to learn more about these Americans who are now missing. Our hearts go out to their families during this difficult time that they're going through”, Jean-Pierre said during a press briefing, as she called on Americans to refrain from travelling to Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Washington had yet to lodge formal inquiries with Moscow about the two US mercenaries reportedly captured by Russian forces near Kharkov.
"I do not have such information, and I have been checking it every day. I will check it today as well. We disclose to the public all information about the fate of detained mercenaries or those on trial... I want to reiterate that I will double-check whether there is any additional information on this issue," Zakharova told the Solovyov Live show.
On Friday, the Russian Defence Ministry said that currently, Poland heads the list of countries in terms of the number of mercenaries sent to Ukraine with 1,831 soldiers, followed by Canada with 601 fighters and the United States with 530.
As of 17 June, a total of 6,956 mercenaries and weapon specialists from 64 countries have arrived in Ukraine since the beginning of the special operation, according to the Russian Defence Ministry.
Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on 24 February after the newly recognised Donbass republics appealed for help in defending themselves against intensified attacks by Ukrainian forces and nationalist battalions. Since then, Moscow has repeatedly stressed that international law prohibits the use of mercenaries in armed conflict, and mercenaries are not entitled to the status of combatant, prisoner of war (POW), or any of the categories of protected persons provided for by the Geneva Conventions.