US warns Americans fighting Russian troops in Ukraine of capture and death

Americans who travel to fight Russia in Ukraine will be treated as mercenaries by the invading nation, which puts them at greater risk of mistreatment, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a briefing, CNN reported. 

Price said, “US citizens who travel to Ukraine, especially with the purpose of participating and fighting there, they face significant risks, including the very real risk of capture or death. The United States, as you know, is not able to provide assistance to evacuate US citizens from Ukraine, including those Americans who may decide to travel to Ukraine to participate in the ongoing war”. 

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He also added that the State Department’s message was that Americans should try and help Ukraine in humanitarian ways. 

Price was quoted, by CNN, saying, “We continue to urge US citizens not to travel to Ukraine for their safety regardless of the underlying purpose, we continue to encourage them to divert their energies towards safe, constructive, volunteer or civil society activities”. 

Earlier, the Pentagon had also urged Americans not to join the war, with spokesperson John Kirby saying “I don’t have an estimate of Americans who might want to be volunteering to go there. I would say what I said last week, if you’re an American and you want to do right by Ukraine, the best thing you can do is find a way to donate to so many agencies that are trying to deal with what is now clearly a humanitarian crisis in the region, and certainly there in Ukraine. We still do not believe that Ukraine is a safe place for Americans to go. We urge them not to go and if any are still there, we urge them to leave”. 

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However, several people from countries all over the world have signed up for the international legion of fighters set up by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, to bolster his nation’s troops against the might of the Russian military.