A US woman has been left distraught after her son has been taken prisoner by Russian troops as he was trying to flee Ukraine, reports suggest.
Tina Hauser's son, Tyler Jacob, 28, from Minnesota, took a job teaching English in Ukraine in November and was living with his wife and her 11-year-old daughter in Kherson.
He tried to flee the country amid the ongoing crisis by boarding a bus on Saturday destined for Turkey. However, he didn't get very far as he was detained by Russian troops at a checkpoint in Armiansk in northern Crimea, his mum told the New York Post.
Jacob left his wife and daughter behind in Kherson, his Mum said.
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She said: “It’s been very stressful, I break down and I cry at random times.
“I’m hardly sleeping, I hardly eat, I’m constantly thinking of him and I’m worried. This is my worst nightmare coming true – he’s been taken prisoner during the war.
“I just want my son to know I love him and I’m doing everything I can to find him. I will go to the end of the Earth to find him.
“I want him to be safe and to stay strong and to know that mom loves him so much. ”
Meanwhile, Tyler's father, John Quinn, said the news of his son was "heartbreaking"
He told CBS Minnesota : “He met a girl over there, fell in love, got married, and now we are in a mess.
“It’s heartbreaking that your child would have to go through something like that.”
Tina said she and her son had discussed his exit from Ukraine the week before Russia invaded the country, but he resisted her pleas to leave.
“He kept on reassuring me, ‘Mom it’s going to be fine, it’s going to be OK,’” Tina said. “And then the war broke out.”
Being the only American on board, and the only one detained, his father fears his son is being used as a pawn for Russian propaganda, especially after he showed up on Russian media.
“They eventually made a video with him as the subject about how well they were treating the prisoners over there, it’s heart wrenching,” John said.
While he doesn’t know where Jacob is, he knows he’s tired and scared and is desperate to bring him home.
Jacob is reportedly the second US citizen to be detained by Russian troops during its invasion of Ukraine and the US embassy in Moscow is trying to bring him home.
