Members of their family said two American veterans from Alabama who went to Ukraine to help fend off the invasion, are missing and fear being captured by Russian forces or Russian-backed separatists.
Family members say Andy Tay Ngoc Huen, 27, of Trinity, Alabama, and Alexander Drake, 39, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, heard nothing after days of being in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine, near the Russian border.
Joy Black, Huynh’s fiancée, told USA TODAY that going to Ukraine “wasn’t a light decision.” “He has a big heart and a lot of sympathy for those in need.”
Huynh told her on June 8 that he won’t be available for a few days. Black, 21, told USA TODAY that she started to get worried when she didn’t hear anything about him. She received a call on Monday from another soldier in his unit, in which he said the couple did not meet at a meeting point during the operation. The caller told them that the other soldiers had waited a day and conducted a drone search.
Black, whose family has since reached out to the State Department and the Ukraine Red Cross group that is also looking for the men, said whether or not they had been arrested. Asked about the men Thursday, White House press secretary Karen Jean-Pierre said, “We’re working hard to find out more.”
“We’re just hoping for good news,” Black said.
