On Wednesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom,” U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink discussed Russia’s detention of dual citizen Ksenia Karelina and responded to questions on whether Russia feels emboldened to take Americans hostage by stating that Ukraine has done well in its fight against Russia and Russia’s treatment of Americans is “of great concern.”
Co-host Dana Perino asked, “Does Russia feel emboldened to take American citizens hostage?”
Brink responded, “Saturday is the two-year mark of Russia’s brutal, full-scale invasion. And I have to say, in those two years, Ukraine has taken 50% of the territory that Russia has seized back. It has protected its energy grid from thousands of missiles and drones, and it has also reclaimed the Black Sea from the Russian Navy in order to support global trade. It has done this without a single U.S. soldier.”
Perino then said, “Okay, I want to get to that. But I do want to ask about this American citizen, dual U.S.-Russian citizen, who donated $51, apparently, allegedly, to Ukraine, to support Ukraine and now she is being held. She was shackled, blindfolded in Russia, and what can the State Department do when Russia seems to feel emboldened to take our people?”
Brink responded, “[I]t’s a horrifying story. I don’t know the details. But I can say that, based on the way Putin treats his own people, it is of great concern how Putin treats also American citizens. We all know of the terrible death of Alexei Navalny last week. And Putin is to blame. So, it’s, of course, of great concern.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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