LONDON, June 15. /TASS/. Two former US servicemen Alexander Drueke and Andy Huynh were captured near Kharkov, The Telegraph reported on Wednesday.

They are believed to be the first US servicemen to end up as Russian prisoners of war since Russia started a special military operation on February 24, the report said.

The Americans could have been taken prisoner on Tuesday, the newspaper cited their comrade as saying. They served as volunteers with a Ukrainian army unit, according to the report.

Earlier, two UK nationals were captured in Donbass, Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner. A court in Donetsk has sentenced them to death for taking part in the hostilities on the side of Ukraine.

On February 24 Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in response to a request for help by the heads of the Donbass republics. The West retaliated to the Russian decision by imposing sweeping sanctions on the country. Also, Western countries started extensive shipments of weapons to Kiev.