Update (1218 EST): Former U.S. armed services members Robert Drueke and Andy Huynh have been identified as the Americans captured by Russian forces in Kharkiv oblast last week. Drueke was a former United States Army Soldier and, judging off of Huynh’s photos, he appears to have been a United States Marine.
Two American volunteers from Task Force Baguette, a contracted foreign volunteer group under the Ukrainian military, are feared captured by Russian Forces after fierce fighting in the Kharkiv Region.
OFFICIAL STATEMENT : A week ago our team ended up isolated in the middle of a Russian Offensive. Bama and Hate, 2 of our American brothers, were captured.
We have not since heard anything about their well being. The information was confirmed by the Ukrainian intelligence.
— Task Force Baguette (@TFBaguette) June 15, 2022
An exclusive interview with one of the groups member revealed that their volunteers, known only as “Bama” and “Hate”, until their identities are released by their families, were engaged with Russian Ground Forces last week when the group found themselves in the midst of a Russian offensive. The two members broke contact and were feared dead after being engaged by Russian armor. However, Ukrainian intelligence revealed to the group that Russian telegram users were reporting two American volunteers had been captured, leading the group to believe it was Tank and Hate.
There has been no official acknowledgement of the capture by the Russian Ministry of Defense or Russian State Owned Media, which is troubling considering the capture of two British and one Moroccan national was widely televised in a show trial sentencing them to death.
This story will be updated as more details become available.
As for Task Force Baguette, named after the mix of French and American volunteers, the group has been fighting in Ukraine since shortly after the February 24th invasion. The unnamed group representative that spoke with us said, “Everybody has different motivation, can’t talk for everyone, but mostly is protect civilians and kids, help ukraine, fight for freedom, can’t sit and watch the horror of war and do nothing about it etc..”, when asked why the group went to Ukraine to fight.
As of May 4th, 2022, President Zelensky has acknowledged 20,000 foreign volunteers that have come to fight against the Russian Federation. Most of those fighters fall under the Ukrainian Foreign Legion and have recently been deployed to Kharkiv and Luhansk, notably near Severodonetsk where Ukrainian forces are desperately holding on to the strategic city, one of the few remaining Ukrainian held bastions in the oblast.
For those who still doubt abous us fighting for ukraine, here is a short clip of our team ?? ?? pic.twitter.com/9tUffjuYE6
— Task Force Baguette (@TFBaguette) May 20, 2022
