Cannon Falls, Minnesota – The family of a Minnesota man says his son was taken by Russian troops while trying to flee Ukraine, reports CBS Minnesota. Tyler Jacob, 28, is from Winona, Minnesota, southeast of Minneapolis, and was in Ukraine when Russian forces invaded the country.
His father, John Quinn of Cannon Falls, is desperate to get Jacob home.
He told CBS Minnesota that his son moved from Winona to Ukraine last summer and was teaching English in Kherson.
“There he met a girl, he fell in love, he got married and now we’re in a mess,” he said.
But after the war started, Quinn said, the family was receiving “calls in the middle of the night saying bombs were dropping, planes fighting in the air. Just things you never thought you’d want to hear.”
Quinn said Jacob boarded an evacuation bus for foreigners heading to Turkey on Saturday. But Russian soldiers stopped the bus at a checkpoint in Crimea and Jacob was arrested.
“It’s heartbreaking that your child has to go through something like this,” Quinn said.
As the only American on board and the only detainee, Quinn fears that her son will be used as a pawn for Russian propaganda, especially after he appeared in the Russian media.
“They finally made a video with him as a topic about how well the prisoners there were treating him; it’s heartbreaking,” Quinn said.
Although he doesn’t know where Jacob is, he knows he’s tired and scared.
In a statement, Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar said, “My heart is with Tyler’s family and we will do our best to locate him. My office is working with the State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Moscow to find him and resolve this situation as soon as possible. “
“He’s an American like any other sports player, or any important person like that, so he’s as important to me as this player is to his mom and dad, so he also deserves to be here,” Quinn said.
Quinn said Jacob’s wife did not have permission to board the bus and is still trying to escape to a safe place.
- In:
- war
- minnesota
- Ukraine
- Russia
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