captured during war believes he and other prisoners are still in Ukraine

A former U.S. soldier who was captured by Russian-backed forces in Ukraine two months ago told his mother in a phone call that he and two other American prisoners are still in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, the family said in a press release. Alex Drueke spoke to his mother, Lois "Bunny" Drueke, and a U.S. State Department case manager Thursday morning, the family said.

"Several things he said seem to indicate they are still in the Donetsk region of Ukraine," Bunny Drueke said in the press release. "When he was able to call two weeks ago, he said they had been moved to an actual prison, so we weren't sure if they had maybe been relocated to Russia. But now I don't think they have."

She said he mentioned a "nearby bombing of a water filtration plant that left a lot of Donetsk without running water, so they have been given bottled water the past couple of days."

Alex also asked if "the news in America was showing that 'people are dying here in Donetsk and Donbas,'" according to Bunny Dreuke.

The State Department has not confirmed whether the men are in Donetsk. 

Two months ago, Alex Drueke and Andy Huynh, who were volunteering with a squadron of foreign fighters alongside the Ukrainian army, were captured by Russian forces. The U.S. is working to confirm whether a third American, identified as retired Marine Captain Grady Kurpasi, a 20-year veteran of the U.S. military, was also taken prisoner. He went silent after taking small-arms fire in the Kherson region earlier this summer, according to a family friend.

Ukrainian government spokespeople have classified them as prisoners of war.

In a Thursday press release, Bunny Drueke said her son "sounded stronger and more like himself than ever before." 

According to Alex's aunt, Dianna Shaw, he said that he's in a prison cell with Huynh and an unidentified third American. They play "mind games" and chess, using trash as game pieces, and also get time outside, she said she was told.