Americans who fought in Ukraine describe being held by Russian-backed forces

Alex Drueke and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, two Americans who were captured while fighting in Ukraine and held by Russian-backed forces for 105 days, describe their experience being tortured. #CNN #News

56 comments

    1. @bngr bngr A Russian tyranny citizen here. I must say that patriotism is not a Murica thing as I see it, but patriotism of democracy in general. USA will go downhill if they’ll loose this era democracy vs tyranny confrontation. The China is watching.

    2. @dan dansen i keep hearing veterans,vietnam,irag,afghanistan veterans tell me which heroism they were fighting for in those countries..??

    1. @Alex Whitman I don’t know how you survived or why you were put in a place to be tortured, but if it was serving our country, or yours, thank you and I appreciate that you have found the strength to continue. I’m sure the world is a better place for you being here ❤

    2. @Alex Whitman Thank you for sharing. I am sorry for what you went through. I lost a friend who suffered from PTSD. The problem is he never shared it always wanted to appear strong as the army training teaches. I think bottling up is the worse way of dealing with it. I pray that you heal from past wounds. 🙏🏼

    1. im pretty sure the US does alot worse to the POWs they capture, boredom, LOL, wtf did they want, a playstation????

  1. This is why a country must condemn torture and under no circumstance take part in torture to keep the higher moral ground. It was regrettable to see torture being done on prisoners in Guantanamo Bay because I’m sure the Russians were saying Americans do it.

    1. @the doctor airsoft Am I supposed to go “ReeEeEeeeEe” or something Igor?

      You’re going to get conscripted once all your farmers and trades-people go through the meat grinder.

      I’ll miss our talks…ish

    2. I don’t think it was a great interview. The guy wanted to die. I wanted to hear more about the mindset..not very insightful, she just reading questions from a list to me

  2. Happy to see them home with their families. You are part of Ukraine’s freedom and independence, which we are struggling for centuries for.

    1. @It’s Today hello how can you call an invasion which occupies 20% of other countries land be called failed ? There is a thing called logic , maybe you should google it . And let me remind that 20% land is bigger than Portugal and Hungary. This land that Russians occupy is closed to the ports and very fertile . As a person who respects the other side I would admit that maybe Russians paid a big price to occupied these lands . But calling it a failed invasion is far fetched , I would say his army is doing great job considering everything , remember this is not a video game , Russians are fighting this war against nato weapons. There are land mines at every inch . There are tanks big weapons, this is real war . So yeah for them to occupy a land which is bigger than Hungary and Portugal, in less than 7 or 8 months is tremendous.

    2. They are considered mercenaries as per Geneva convention, and have no legal rights or protections. The people of Luhansk, Donetsk or Russia could have done what they wanted to them because they are non-persons. Russia was merciful to release them.

    3. @Carsi – Yeah, it could always be worse, but don’t try to pretend being tortured 24/7 is somehow merciful. Letting them go home months ago, would have been merciful. They waited for a prisoner swap so stop trying to pretend they should somehow be grateful to their captures.

  3. I hope that you both fully recover from this. You’re both brave men, to say the least. Thank you for your service from Canada and please try to turn this horror into a positive. God bless both of you.

    1. Do you realize the are considered mercenaries as per Geneva convention, and have no legal rights or protections. The people of Luhansk, Donetsk or Russia could have done what they wanted to them because they are non-persons. Russia was merciful to release them.

  4. “I just wanted to die. I just wanted the pain to end.”

    I feel ya man. MS since 2011. Can’t remember my last good day, just hope to not have a bad one tomorrow. That’s all you can ever do.

    1. Hey friend..,
      Idk what your going through nor what your beliefs are. But just as an opinion & maybe a word of advice.. try not to speak negative thoughts. Instead replace them with something that maybe once made u smile before 2011. Manifestation is a wonderful thing. Power of the tongue is underestimate. But most importantly, having faith in God is what will get you through anything! It’s not just a temporarily fix.. but something that will not only relax your body & mind.. but your soul. Try to learn meditation and manifestation. It will get you through. God bless

    2. I can’t remember my last good day since around the same time at least 10 years +. you speak truth. just knowing life can always be worse the next day that’s how we find small pockets of air to stay alive

  5. Alex and Andy, you are so brave. I’m so relieved that you are home. It’s often hard to see the silver lining in times of trauma, but you are obviously now more closely bonded to each other than brothers and at least you take away from this outrageous war crime a friendship forged in the fire and I believe that friendship will sustain you both. God bless you both and thank you for your service to our friends in Ukraine. I admire you both. I am Dale Berger from Willow River,British Columbia, Canada. Slava Ukraine.

  6. God bless you guys.
    You are the salt of the earth.
    We Ukrainian are in great debt to you. Thank’s for all you’ve done

  7. You are both heroes to go fight for freedom & democracy for 🇺🇦 In the United States we take our democracy for granted! There are countless people out there who are grateful for what you did

  8. your both heroes i cant imagine what you went through. im happy your home and i thank you for your service SLAVA UKRAINE

  9. Sorry for all you two went through….
    No amount of words will equal that pain and suffering. I’m sorry you had to go through that. And I’m happy your home now. Thanks for fighting for Ukraine making so many sacrifices. Thank you both so much. You guys are heroes. 🪖 🎖 🙏
    🇺🇦 🇺🇦 🇺🇦 🇺🇦 🇺🇦 🇺🇦

  10. Alex and Andy we in the Netherlands are happy to see you at home with your family.
    Never forget what you guys did and still do for freedom and Ukraine.
    Stay strong and enjoy the beautiful things in life. You are real heroes and you have a lot of respect.
    Greetings from a Dutch Marine and thank you for serving 🍀👊🇺🇦

  11. These guys are heros. Honest and good hearted, willing to give their lives for others. They are a prefect representation of what America and good people are about. Thank you for your service!

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