WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Three present and former members of the Tennessee National Guard falsely recognized in a Russian media report as mercenaries who have been killed in Ukraine are actually alive and nicely, the Tennessee National Guard stated on Thursday.
President Joe Biden ordered the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Ukraine previous to Russia’s invasion of the nation as a part of a broader effort to keep away from a direct confrontation with the nuclear-armed adversary.
But the report revealed in Russia’s Pravda newspaper recognized the Americans by title and gave military ranks for every of them, citing info from pro-Russian militia in Ukraine’s Donetsk.
The report even supplied an intricate rationalization for the way the three have been recognized, utilizing objects from a backpack “close to the stays of one of many militants” — together with a Tennessee state flag.
“The Tennessee Guard is conscious of the faux information popping out of Russia,” stated Tracy O’Grady, a spokesperson for the bigger U.S. National Guard.
The Tennessee Guard stated in an announcement: “They are accounted for, protected and never, because the article headline erroneously states, U.S. mercenaries killed in Donetsk People’s Republic.”
A U.S. official, talking on situation of anonymity, stated two of the boys have been nonetheless within the Tennessee National Guard and in Tennessee. The different man had left the service was however was alive and accounted for — and never in Ukraine, the official stated.
The National Guard speculated the militia picked the three males whereas reviewing official imagery related to a 2018 deployment by Tennessee’s 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment to Ukraine, suggesting all three had been in Ukraine.
“All members of the Tennessee National Guard returned safely to their dwelling state in 2019 after a profitable mission,” it stated.
Russia on Sunday attacked the primary base the place, previous to Biden’s pullout, the U.S. military had lengthy skilled Ukrainian forces. It fired air-launched cruise missiles from Russian airspace on the Yavoriv International Centre for Peacekeeping and Security.
The base is situated simply 15 miles (25 km) from the Polish border.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
