<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1655440361338,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"00000162-07c3-d172-a563-4febcc790000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1655440361338,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"00000162-07c3-d172-a563-4febcc790000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_55440230", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1030126"} }); ","_id":"00000181-6feb-db25-adf7-7ffb871c0000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video EmbedA third former U.S. serviceman who has gone missing in Ukraine has been identified, but his whereabouts remain unknown.
Family and friends of Grady Kurpasi, who served in the Marine Corps for 20 years, last heard from the veteran on April 24, according to a report. Kurpasi arrived in Ukraine to volunteer alongside Ukrainian forces on March 7. His last known location was in the Kherson region, in southeastern Ukraine, where he manned an observation post in late April. Kherson is occupied by Russian forces.
STATE DEPARTMENT ‘CLOSELY MONITORING’ REPORTS OF AMERICANS CAPTURED IN UKRAINE
“For him personally, he has a skill set that he feels he can give back,” George Heath, a family friend of Kurpasi’s, told CNN on Thursday. “He wanted to go and help the Ukrainian people. He wasn’t really planning on fighting.”
State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Thursday that the department is aware of the third missing American in Ukraine and is “in touch with the family.”
On Wednesday, reports emerged that two other former U.S. servicemen had been captured by Russian forces in Ukraine.
A photo purportedly of the two volunteers, Alexander Drueke and Andy Huynh, was posted on the social media platform Telegram on Thursday by a Russian blogger. The image purported to show the two in the back of a Russian military truck with their hands apparently tied behind their backs.
“We are aware of unconfirmed reports of two U.S. citizens captured in Ukraine,” a State Department official told reporters on Wednesday. “We are closely monitoring the situation and are in contact with Ukrainian authorities.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Thousands of Western volunteers traveled to Ukraine after Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion to assist Ukrainian forces in the war effort. The Kremlin warned in March that it would not treat captured foreigners as prisoners of war.
Earlier this month, three foreign fighters, a Moroccan citizen and two British citizens, captured in Ukraine were sentenced to death by pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine.
