Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told NBC News on Monday that international rules of war would not apply to two Americans captured by Russian forces in Ukraine, and he would not rule out death sentences for veterinarians.
Background: The US State Department issued a statement to Axios and other media calling on the Kremlin “as well as its proxies” to “fulfill their international obligations to everyone, including those captured fighting in Ukraine.”
What they say: In the Kremlin’s first comments on the capture of Alex Drucke and Andy Huyn, Peskov told NBC’s Keir Simmons that Drucke, 39, and Huyn, 27, were “soldiers of fortune” and “not subject to the Geneva Conventions.”
- “These guys on the battlefield were shooting at our military. They were threatening their lives,” said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s chief spokesman. “They must be punished.”
- When Simmons asked Peskov if the two veterans would be sentenced to death, he replied: “It depends on the investigation.”
Retrospective: The Huynh and Drueke families announced last week that Alabama veterinarians have disappeared.
- A third American who traveled to Ukraine during Russia’s military invasion, Grady Kurpasi, was also later reported missing. Peskov told NBC that he could not provide any information about the whereabouts of the former US Marine.
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