Moscow says US mercenaries held in Ukraine are not subject to the Geneva Convention

Sputnik – Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the American mercenaries captured in Ukraine cannot count on the protection of the Geneva Convention.

The press secretary described the two Americans captured during the Ukraine conflict as “wealth soldiers” and asserted that they were involved in illegal activities in Ukraine and shot the Russian army.

“I will not explain the legal aspect of their families. One thing is clear: they have committed crimes. They are not members of the Ukrainian army. The Geneva Convention does not apply to them,” he explained.

“They threatened their lives and must be held accountable for the crimes they committed,” Peskov concluded.

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The US State Department confirmed that the two US citizens captured in Ukraine were taking part in hostilities on the side of Kyiv.

Alexander John Robert Drwick and Andy Tay Ngoc Hoen told RT TV how they were captured after their Ukrainian commanders abandoned them in a battle in the Donbass. They spoke to Russian media from a detention center in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).

According to Russian data, 6,956 foreigners from 64 countries have arrived in Ukraine since February to fight for Kyiv. And the Russian Defense Ministry said, on Friday, that about 1956 of them were killed, while 1,779 of them left the country.

In early June, the Supreme Court of the Democratic Republic of the Congo sentenced to death two British nationals and one Moroccan national who had fought alongside Ukrainian militants.

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