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A Russian news report claiming that three members of the Tennessee National Guard were killed in Ukraine while serving as mercenaries is "fake news," a spokesperson for the
National Guard said Thursday. The _Pravda_ newspaper published the names of the three Americans and their military ranks, claiming their deaths were reported by a separatist militia in the
Donetsk region. The report also said they were identified by items in a backpack found "near the remains of one of the militants," which contained a Tennessee state flag. In a
statement, the Tennessee National Guard said the three men are "accounted for, safe, and not, as the article headline erroneously states, U.S. mercenaries killed in the Donetsk
People's Republic." A U.S. official told _Reuters_ two of the men are still in the Tennessee National Guard and in the state, while the third has left the service but is not in
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NEWSLETTERS From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox. From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News
Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox. The National Guard said it's possible the militia found images showing members of Tennessee's 278th Armored
Calvary Regiment during a deployment to Ukraine. "All members of the Tennessee National Guard returned safely to their home state in 2019 after a successful mission," the National
Guard spokesperson said. Before Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, President Biden ordered the withdrawal of U.S. troops to avoid a direct confrontation with Russia. On Sunday, Russian
cruise missiles targeted the Yavoriv International Center for Peacekeeping and Security, where the U.S. military trained Ukrainian forces prior to the pullout.