A Minnesota resident who was captured by the Russians while trying to leave Ukraine was released 10 days later.
Tyler Jacob, who tried to leave Ukraine, where he worked as an English teacher, was released Friday, according to Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who tried to bring him back home.
“I am delighted that Tyler has been safely reunited with his wife and daughter,” the former presidential candidate said in a statement. “Over the past two weeks, my team and I have been in close contact with his family, the State Department and the US Embassy in Moscow working to achieve this result, and I am grateful that we were able to help get him to a safe place. ‘
Jacob, 28, a native of the Minnesota town of Winona, appears to have been released thanks to the efforts of the US embassy in Moscow, according to Klobuchar.
“I’m delighted that Tyler is safe,” added Tina Houser, Jacob’s mother. “It was a harrowing experience and I am very grateful to the State Department and Embassy officials who helped us find Tyler and get him out of Russia. I am particularly grateful to Senator Klobuchar for her continued support throughout this process. It was a parent’s worst nightmare, but tonight I can sleep peacefully knowing my son has made it to safety.”
Tyler Jacob, who tried to leave Ukraine, where he worked as an English teacher, was released Friday, according to Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who tried to bring him back home.
Tina Houser (left) says her son Tyler Jacob (right), 28, who lives in Ukraine, was taken prisoner by Russian forces on Saturday.
Jacob, 28, a native of the Minnesota town of Winona, was apparently released thanks to the efforts of the US embassy in Moscow, according to Klobuchar.
His father spoke to CNN on Friday and said he wasn’t treated badly, but he clearly looked tired.
“It was a roller coaster,” said John Quinn, Jacob’s father. “There were ups and downs, obstacles we had to overcome to get him to safety. They treated him very well there. He had no complaints at all about the way he was treated.”
Jacob’s mother, Tina Houser, said she was able to speak with her son via videoconference earlier Friday.
The State Department did not confirm the news when asked for comment Friday night.
“We are aware of these reports, but due to privacy concerns, we have no further comment.”
Jacob’s parents said that last summer, Jacob met a Ukrainian woman online, visited her in November, before falling in love and getting married in January.
Tina Houser (pictured right), Jacob’s mother, spoke about her son while he was still in Russian custody
Bill Quinn (pictured left), Jacob’s father, said his son was not abused in a Russian prison, but he still wants him to come home.
Footage released by a Russian state-run video news agency shows Jacob fleeing Ukraine, passing through a checkpoint in Crimea before being captured by the Russian military, his parents say.
Hauser told local media that she last spoke to her son a week ago on Saturday, when he told her Russian troops were forcing him to take a bus from Kherson and leave his Ukrainian wife and stepdaughter at home.
Speaking on Thursday, Houser said she hadn’t heard from Tyler in five days. She said US State Department officials have asked the Russian government for information on her son’s whereabouts and whether he is “still alive.”
The video, which was filmed in Armyansk, Crimea on Saturday night by Russian video-on-demand company Ruptly, shows Jacob passing through a Russian checkpoint on his way to Turkey.
In an interview with the publication, Jacob said he planned to take a charter flight to Turkey with people he met on the bus.
“I think I’ll be fine,” he said in the video.
Some time later, according to Yakov’s parents, he was seized by Russian troops and taken away.
“My worst nightmare is coming true and I am afraid that they will torture and kill him and I will never see my son again,” Hauser told KAALTV through tears.
The article that accompanied the Ruptly video claimed that the evacuation of 140 foreign nationals fleeing Ukraine was made possible by the Russian Ministry of Defense.
“The evacuation was organized at the request of foreign embassies with a request for assistance in ensuring the safe departure of their citizens from the territory of Ukraine, as well as in response to appeals from foreign citizens addressed to the Russian military command of Kherson,” the ministry said in a statement. cited as a statement.
When the bus reached Russian-held Crimea, Jacob, the only American on board, was escorted out by Russian troops.
Jacob from Minnesota was living with his wife and stepdaughter in Kherson on the Black Sea when the Russian invasion began three weeks ago. This March 15 satellite image shows the Kherson Air Base on fire following an alleged airstrike on Russian troops occupying the base.
Jacob boarded an evacuation bus for foreigners bound for Turkey on Saturday when this photo of Ukrainian protesters was taken in Kherson.
Jacob’s parents said that last summer, Jacob met a Ukrainian woman online, visited her in November, before falling in love and getting married in January.
To stay in the country, he took a job as an English teacher in a small village near Kherson, but just a month later, Russian troops invaded Ukraine, and the newlyweds, as well as Jacob’s new stepdaughter, were trapped, he told Ruptly. on Saturday.
“He met a girl there, fell in love, got married, and now we’re in a quandary,” Tyler’s father, John Quinn, told WCCO-TV.
Kherson, a southern city of 290,000 on the Black Sea, was captured by invading Russian forces at the start of the war, now in its fourth week.