Pro-Russia separatists capture US Air Force vet in Ukraine: brother

U.S. Air Force veteran Suedi Murekezi has been captured by pro-Russia separatists in Ukraine, according to his brother, making him at least the third American to be detained.

Sele Murekezi told the Washington Post that on July 7 he received a call from an unknown caller who gave the phone to Suedi. Suedi Murekezi then told his brother that while living in the city of Kherson he had been wrongfully accused of being part of a pro-Ukraine protest and taken captive, Sele said.

Sele said his brother told him he is being detained in the Donetsk People’s Republic with two other recently-captured Americans, Alexander Drueke and Andy Tai Huynh. Sele said he has been in touch with U.S. officials at the embassy in Kyiv to try and save him.

“He has done his part for America,” Sele told the Post, “and maybe America can do something for him, as well.”

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According to Sele, Suedi had moved to the U.S. from his native Rwanda when he was a teenager, then moved to Ukraine in 2018 for its tech sector. He eventually settled in Kherson. Sele said he told his brother to leave the country prior to the Russian invasion, but he refused.

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Suedi told his brother on the phone that he had not been physically harmed, but Sele told the Post he was suspicious because his brother spoke to him in English in response to Sele, who spoke in their native language.

A State Department spokesperson told Fox News that they are “aware of these unconfirmed reports” of Suedi Murekezi’s capture. 

“Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment,” they said.

The first two Americans to be captured in Ukraine, Drueke and Huynh, went missing on June 9. Less than two weeks later, video footage was released showing them alive and delivering messages to their families.