The three current and former members of the Tennessee National Guard—reported by Russia's Pravda newspaper as mercenaries killed in Ukraine—are alive and well, says the Tennessee National Guard on Thursday.
The false news published in the newspaper mentioned the three Americans by name highlighting their military ranks. The report also described how the men were found and identified using items from a backpack, “near the remains of one of the militants.”
Tracy O'Grady, a spokesperson for the larger US National Guard informed, “The Tennessee Guard is aware of the fake news coming out of Russia.”
The Tennessee Guard said in a statement: "They [the three Americans] are accounted for, safe and not, as the article headline erroneously states, US mercenaries killed in Donetsk People's Republic."
The US had already called back its troops from Ukraine before the Russian invasion to avoid direct conflict.
