A mural depicting Russell Bonner Bentley, a 64-year old American from Texas who first served in the DPR as a soldier and more recently as a war correspondent before his untimely death in April, 2024. Photo: Sputnik.
Bentley went missing in Donetsk on April 8, following a Ukrainian artillery attack on the city’s Petrovsky district. Four days later, the DPR Ministry of Internal Affairs put him on a missing persons list.
Sputnik Donbass correspondent Russell Bentley has died at the age of 64, his wife Lyudmila confirmed to Sputnik.
Expressing condolences, Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of Sputnik’s parent media group Rossiya Segodnya, wrote on her Telegram channel: “Russell Bentley, also known as Texas, a real American from Texas, died in Donetsk. He fought there for our people. Collaborated with our Sputnik. [It’s] terrible. R.I.P….”
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Bentley, who was born and raised in the United States, arrived to the Donbass in 2014 to help the fledgling local militias resist Ukrainian occupation.
From 2014 to 2017, he served in the Sut Vremeni (lit. “Essence of Time”) combat unit, Vostok Battalion and Khan special forces battalion. He took part in some of the most heated battles during the early stage of the Donbass conflict, including Donetsk Airport, Spartak, Avdeyevka, and Yasinovataya.
After retiring from military service, Bentleу turned to humanitarian aid work and journalism. He converted to Russian Orthodox Christianity and in 2021 received Russian citizenship.
Bentley began contributing to Sputnik International in October 2023, publishing numerous video reports and columns that provided Westerners with an inside look at life in the Donbass.
(Sputnik)
