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‘We got our miracle’: Freed Americans back home in Alabama

I’M BRITTANY DECKER AND I’M IAN RICE. WE’RE STAYING ON TOP OF DEVELOPING NEWS TONIGHT. ANDY WINN AND ALEX DURKEE, BOTH VETERANS FROM HERE IN ALABAMA, ARE NOW FREE FROM RUSSIAN CUSTODY. WE GOT WORD ABOUT THIS JUST AFTER NOON TODAY. BOTH WERE RELEASED AT SOME POINT IN THE LAST 24 HOURS. RIGHT NOW, THEY’RE BEING CHECKED OUT BY DOCTORS AT THE US EMBASSY INSIDE OF ARABIA AND ONCE THEY ARE CLEARED, THEY’LL FINALLY BE BROUGHT BACK HOME. YOU REMEMBER BOTH WERE CAPTURED BY RUSSIANS IN JUNE WHILE HELPING UKRAINE. AND WE’RE NOW LEARNING BOTH MEN WERE FREED IN A PRISONER SWAP. AND IN ADDITION, FIVE BRITISH CITIZENS HAVE ALSO BEEN RELEASED. ALABAMA REPRESENTATIVE TERRY SEWELL RELEASING A STATEMENT SAYING, QUOTE, I HAVE BEEN DEEPLY INSPIRED BY THE STRENGTH AND RESILIENCE OF BUNNY DREW KEY AND DIANA SHAH AS WE WORK TO BRING THESE TWO VETERANS HOME. AND RIGHT NOW, I WANT TO GO OUT LIVE TO TUSCALOOSA WVTM 13 LISA CRANE IS LIVE WITH ALEX SARAKI’S MOTHER THIS AFTERNOON. I GOT TO BE A HUGE RELIEF FOR THAT FAMILY. YEAH, I AM HERE IN TUSCALOOSA. THEY’RE PROBABLY THE HAPPIER ADDRESS IN THE COUNTY AND MAYBE THE STATE WITH THE HAPPIEST LADY IN THE STATE. THIS IS BONNIE DRUKER, ALEX’S MOM AND YOU GOT SOME NEWS TODAY THAT I KNOW YOU’VE BEEN PRAYING FOR BUT MAYBE DIDN’T EXPECT TODAY. THAT’S TRUE. WE CERTAINLY DIDN’T EXPECT THE NEWS. YES, I GOT A PHONE CALL FROM I GOT A PHONE CALL FROM SAUDI ARABIA. I DON’T KNOW ANYONE IN SAUDI ARABIA, SO I ALMOST DIDN’T TAKE IT. BUT I THOUGHT, WHAT THE HECK? SO I ANSWERED, AND IT WAS THE U.S. EMBASSY THERE AND THEY VERIFIED WHO I WAS. AND THEN THEY SAID, WE’VE GOT YOUR SON STANDING RIGHT NEXT TO US. HE WANTS TO TALK TO YOU. AND ALEX CAME ON AND I SAID, ALEX CITY SAID, IS IS THIS HI, MOMMA, THIS IS YOUR FAVORITE CHILD. NOW, THAT’S A RUNNING JOKE THAT WE HAVE BECAUSE HE HAS THREE OTHER SIBLINGS. BUT I KNEW THEN IT WAS ALEX FOR SURE, AND THAT HE WAS IN GOOD SPIRIT. HE SOUNDED GOOD. HE SOUNDED HAPPY, AND HE SAID, I’M FREE. AND I WENT FREE, YOU’RE WHAT? AND HE SAID, FREE, I’M FREE. AND I SAID, YOU’RE FREE. IT JUST I JUST HAD TROUBLE PROCESSING IT. AND HE SAID, YES AND THAT AND HE WAS TOO AND AND WE DIDN’T TALK VERY LONG. THEY YOU KNOW, IT WAS JUST LETTING US KNOW THEY WERE SAFE AND SOUND AND THE EMBASSY ASSURED US THAT THEY HAVE AN APARTMENT FOR THEM AND THAT THEY WERE GOING TO TAKE HIM TO A HOSPITAL AND CHECK THEM OUT AND MEDICAL. AND THEY WEREN’T EXPECTING ANY MAJOR PROBLEMS. AND THEY WERE GOING TO GIVE HIM GOOD FOOD AND REAL BEDS AND CLEAN CLOTHES, BEDS AND SHOWERS. SO I KNOW YOU MUST BE SO EXCITED TO GET HOME AND YOU’RE WORKING ON THAT RIGHT NOW, RIGHT. WE ARE. IT’S JUST A MATTER OF COORDINATING EVERYTHING. BUT BUT THEY SHOULD BE HOME WITHIN THE NEXT FEW DAYS. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK HE’S GOING TO WANT TO DO WHEN HE GETS HOME? LOVE ON HIS DOG. YEAH. AND THEN ME. BUT I KNOW HE’S MISSED HIS DOG A LOT. AND I’M GOING TO HAVE A HARD TIME GIVING THE DOG UP. DIESEL IS £100 OF SUGAR. HE IS THE SWEETEST DOG. I KNOW. THIS HAS BEEN A HARD FEW MONTHS FOR YOU WAITING. AND I KNOW THE LAST TIME YOU SPOKE TO HIM WAS ACTUALLY SIX WEEKS AGO. AND THAT WAS THE LONGEST YOU HAD EVER GONE. RIGHT. SO YOU AND THEY HAD TOLD YOU TO PREPARE FOR THE WORST, IS THAT RIGHT? WELL, WE WERE AWARE OF THAT, THAT THIS FIGHTING GOT CLOSER. WE KNEW THEY WERE PROBABLY THREE OUTCOMES. ONE WAS THEY MIGHT MOVE THEM. ONE WAS THEY MIGHT RELEASE THEM AND ONE WAS THEY MIGHT KILL THEM. AND WE WE JUST TRIED TO REMAIN CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC AND AND JUST SIT TIGHT AND I KNOW THE STATE DEPARTMENT WAS WAS WORKING REALLY HARD ROUND THE CLOCK BEHIND THE SCENES. AND WE WERE ABLE TO SPEAK WITH THE UKRAINIAN AMBASSADOR A FEW WEEKS AGO. AND SHE ASSURED US THAT UKRAINE WAS DOING ALL THEY COULD TO GET THEM RELEASED TO FIND WHERE THEY WERE AND GET THEM RELEASED. SO WE KNEW THAT EVERYONE WAS WORKING HARD. I KNOW THAT. I’VE HEARD THAT SINCE HE’S BEEN THERE, HE’S REALLY FALLEN IN LOVE WITH THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLE AND MIGHT WANT TO HELP THEM REBUILD. WOULD YOU EVER LET HIM GO BACK? YES, I WOULD, BECAUSE I’M PROUD OF HIM. I WOULD HOPE THAT HE WOULD NOT CHOOSE TO GO BACK AND FIGHT. BUT ONCE THE WAR IS OVER AND THEY START THE REBUILDING PROCESS, I MIGHT EVEN GO WITH HIM. SO HE TOLD ME TO KEEP MY PASSPORT READY. HE WANTED ME TO SEE WHAT A BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY IT WAS AND TO MEET SUCH LOVELY PEOPLE. I’M SO HAPPY THAT YOU GOT THE NEWS YOU GOT TODAY. DID NOT WANT TO MEET YOU ON ANY OTHER TERMS WITH THESE HAPPY TERMS. SO CONGRATULATIONS AND WE’LL KEEP IN TOUCH AND MAKE SURE WE’RE THERE WHEN HE’S BACK. SO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING WITH US. BUT THIS IS, GUYS, THE BEST NEWS. ANYONE COULD HAVE GOTTEN TODAY AND CERTAINL

‘We got our miracle’: Freed Americans back home in Alabama

Two U.S. military veterans who disappeared three months ago while fighting with Ukrainian forces against Russia arrived home to Alabama on Saturday, greeted by hugs, cheers and tears of joy at the state’s main airport.Alex Drueke, 40, and Andy Huynh, 27, had gone missing June 9 in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine near the Russian border. The Alabama residents were released as part of a prisoner exchange. They pair had traveled to Ukraine on their own and bonded over their shared home state.”It’s them!” a family member shouted as the pair appeared at the top of an escalator at the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport in Birmingham, one of Alabama’s largest cities.Smiling but looking tired, the two were pulled into long emotional hugs by family members after their connecting flight home. Then they were whisked to a waiting car.”Surreal. I still have chill bumps. I always imagined this day. I always held not just hope but belief in this day. But I thought it was going to be two or three years from now at best,” said Drueke’s aunt, Dianna Shaw. “There are prisoners of war who have been held for months and years. There are people who have been detained wrongfully for years and for this to come about in three months is, just, unimaginable to me,” she added. “Even though I’m living it, it feels unimaginable, and I don’t want people to forget all the Ukrainians who are still being held.” The families of the two men announced their release on Wednesday. The men were among 10 prisoners released by Russian-backed separatists as part of a prisoner exchange mediated by Saudi Arabia. The Saudi embassy said five British nationals and others from Morocco, Sweden and Croatia also were freed.Darla Black, whose daughter is engaged to Huynh, said she thought, “there he is. There he is” as Huynh came into view. “I had to get my hands on him to actually believe it. I’m just overwhelmed with gratitude. We got our miracle,” Black said. The men had arrived Friday at at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.”We’re looking forward to spending time with family and we’ll be in touch with the media soon,” Alex Drueke said shortly after arriving in New York with Huyn. “Happy to be home.”

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. —

Alex Drueke, 40, and Andy Huynh, 27, had gone missing June 9 in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine near the Russian border. The Alabama residents were released as part of a prisoner exchange. They pair had traveled to Ukraine on their own and bonded over their shared home state.

“It’s them!” a family member shouted as the pair appeared at the top of an escalator at the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport in Birmingham, one of Alabama’s largest cities.

Smiling but looking tired, the two were pulled into long emotional hugs by family members after their connecting flight home. Then they were whisked to a waiting car.

“Surreal. I still have chill bumps. I always imagined this day. I always held not just hope but belief in this day. But I thought it was going to be two or three years from now at best,” said Drueke’s aunt, Dianna Shaw.

“There are prisoners of war who have been held for months and years. There are people who have been detained wrongfully for years and for this to come about in three months is, just, unimaginable to me,” she added. “Even though I’m living it, it feels unimaginable, and I don’t want people to forget all the Ukrainians who are still being held.”

The families of the two men announced their release on Wednesday. The men were among 10 prisoners released by Russian-backed separatists as part of a prisoner exchange mediated by Saudi Arabia. The Saudi embassy said five British nationals and others from Morocco, Sweden and Croatia also were freed.

Darla Black, whose daughter is engaged to Huynh, said she thought, “there he is. There he is” as Huynh came into view.

“I had to get my hands on him to actually believe it. I’m just overwhelmed with gratitude. We got our miracle,” Black said.

The men had arrived Friday at at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.

“We’re looking forward to spending time with family and we’ll be in touch with the media soon,” Alex Drueke said shortly after arriving in New York with Huyn. “Happy to be home.”