One of two American veterans released from Russian captivity after being captured in Ukraine says they both prayed for death during the brutal ride to freedom.
His hands were bound. His head was covered by a plastic bag, and the packing tape holding it in place was secured so tightly it it caused welts on his forehead. Drueke said he and fellow American prisoner Andy Huynh reached their limit in this state during the transit, which occurred in a series of vehicles from eastern Ukraine to an airport in Russia that was surrounded by armed guards.
On June 9, they were captured during what Drueke described as a reconnaissance mission associated with Ukraine's international legion, composed of foreign volunteers.Russian soldiers took the two men to their camp, and then into Russia for “intensive interrogation.” While declining to go into specifics, Drueke said the treatment was brutal.The men were taken back to Ukraine to a “black site” in Donetsk for nearly a month of additional interrogation, he said.
“We knew something was happening because our normal routine was being skewed and they were having us clear all of our personal stuff out of the cell,” he said.