Nicknamed “Texas”, Russell Bentley died in Ukraine, the head of the pro-Kremlin channel RT announced this Friday. But who was this American citizen, who was known to have fought alongside pro-Russian separatists between 2014 and 2017?
Aged 64, Russell Bentley was born in Texas and worked as an arborist before settling in Donetsk and joining local pro-Russian separatists in their fight against Kiev forces, launched in 2014. He then obtained Russian citizenship.
An eight-year run
Convicted of drug trafficking in the United States, Russell Bentley spent five years in prison. He escaped in 1999 and remained on the run for eight years, before being caught and returning behind bars.
After several more tidy years, the Texan left his life in 2014 to support pro-Russian forces and fight in Ukraine. It was then briefly publicized, the newspapers being intrigued by this man who wore a cowboy hat among the Russian fighters and castigated the “Nazis” of Ukraine, repeating the rhetoric of the Kremlin.
From cannabis seller to pro-Kremlin “journalist”
He converted to Orthodoxy in 2016 and then obtained Russian nationality in 2020 after years of fighting alongside the Russians. He then specialized as a “journalist” for media owned by the Kremlin.
The “Vostok” battalion, for which this character had fought, confirmed his “assassination” on Telegram, without specifying the circumstances. According to Russian media, he disappeared on April 8 after leaving to help victims of a Ukrainian bombing on the city of Donetsk, occupied by Russia in the east.