INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Two Americans captured in Ukraine while fighting with Kyiv's military were "endangering" Russian soldiers and should be "held accountable
for those crimes," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday in an interview with NBC News.The interview marks the first time the Kremlin
military veterans, according to NBC."They're soldiers of fortune and they were involved in illegal activities on the territory of Ukraine
They were involved in firing and shelling our military personnel
They were endangering their lives," Peskov told the network, in English."They should be held responsible for those crimes that they have
committed," he added in the first bits of the interview made public."Those crimes have to be investigated."When pressed on what crimes the
Americans had committed, Peskov admitted their specific offenses were not yet known, but claimed that they would not be covered by the
Geneva conventions on prisoners of war."They are not [in the] Ukrainian army, so they are not subject to the Geneva Conventions," the
the two men were being held were not fully clear, nor who specifically was holding them
Peskov would only say they were being held by "authorities."As to whether they could face the death penalty, Peskov said: "It depends on the
President Joe Biden said Friday that he did not know the whereabouts of Drueke and Huynh, who are believed to have joined other foreigners
in volunteering alongside Ukrainian troops.A U.S
State Department spokesperson on Saturday confirmed American authorities had seen the photos and videos of the two U.S
citizens "reportedly captured by Russia's military forces in Ukraine.""We are closely monitoring the situation and our hearts go out to
their families during this difficult time," the spokesperson told AFP.On the case of WNBA superstar Brittney Griner, who is being held in
pre-trial detention in Russia on drug charges, Peskow strongly rejected the idea that she was being held as a hostage."We cannot call her a
Why should we call her a hostage? She violated Russian law and now she is being prosecuted," the Kremlin spokesman said.Griner, a two-time
Olympic gold medalist and WNBA champion, was detained at Moscow airport in February on charges of carrying in her luggage vape cartridges
with cannabis oil, which could carry a 10-year prison sentence.Washington says that Russia has "wrongfully detained" the 31-year-old Griner
and turned her case over to the U.S
special envoy in charge of hostages.Her pre-trial detention has been extended until July 2.
