American prisoner of war in Russia recounts brutal experience

( NewsNation ) — Former prisoner of war Alex Drueke said it’s his stubborn personality that kept him alive during his violent, isolating time in a Russian prison.

Drueke is a U.S. military veteran who traveled to Ukraine to take up arms against Russian forces after they invaded in February 2022.

During his time in prison, he was electrocuted with car batteries, beaten badly and intentionally dehydrated. It was all in an effort to coerce a confession that he was part of the CIA, “so they could say the U.S. government was directly involved.”

But he never gave in.

“I didn’t want to give them the satisfaction. Everything was leading me to believe that I was going to die there … but I wanted to go out strong … so I didn’t cry when they beat me. I didn’t go to my knees unless they physically forced me to my knees,” he said Saturday on “ NewsNation Prime. “

Drueke returned home after being held captive by the Russians for more than 100 days. He and another U.S. citizen, Andy Huynh, were released in a prisoner exchange brokered by Saudi Arabia.

Now, he’s returning alongside a humanitarian group. It’ll be at least his third time back in Ukraine since his release.

“I keep going back because this war is not over . It’s the same reasons I went in the first place,” he said. “Russia is a clear aggressor. This is a case of black versus white, right versus wrong, and I want to be on the good side of history.”

NewsNation’s Taylor Delandro contributed to this report.

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