Russian media outlets on Friday broadcast images of what they said were two US citizens captured while fighting for Ukraine, in what could be the first confirmation the duo had been taken prisoner.
The Izvestia newspaper showed a video clip of what it said was a brief interview with Andy Huynh, 27, while the RT channel posted an image of a man it identified as Alexander Drueke, 39, both from the US state of Alabama.
Family members said on Wednesday the two men had been missing in Ukraine for a week and that they feared they had been taken prisoner.
In a separate, six-second video posted on the Telegram messaging app, a bearded man with an American accent speaks into a camera and says: “My name is Alexander Drueke, I am against war.”
He repeated “I am against war” in Russian.
In another two-second video, the man that Izvestia identified as Mr Huynh also said “I am against war” in Russian.
The Russian defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reports.
Pentagon officials have repeatedly urged US citizens not to travel to Ukraine to provide aid or to join the fight, saying that there are other ways to help.
Reuters contributed to this report