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Humvees seized in Russia still not returned

Nearly two months after Russian forces seized five Marine Humvees in Georgia, officials still have not returned them to their rightful owners, a Navy spokesman said Tuesday.

The Humvees were taken Aug. 19 during Russia’s assault on the Georgian port of Poti, said Lt. Cmdr. Corey Barker, a spokesman for U.S. European Command. The vehicles were in Georgia awaiting commercial transport back to the U.S. following Operation Immediate Response, a multinational training exercise in July involving Georgian and U.S. forces.

Barker had no further comment but has said previously that negotiations were ongoing to secure the vehicles’ release. They contained no advanced tracking technology or cryptology hardware, he said — a contrast with Russian news reports, which said the vehicles contained sophisticated communications gear and had been shipped to Moscow for examination.