The missing American who’d traveled to Ukraine years ago to aid Russian separatists in Donbas was found dead in the country’s war-torn eastern region.
The body of Russell Bentley, a 64-year-old U.S. Army vet, was recovered in the Russian-controlled region of Donetsk Oblast, Reuters reported.
Between 2014 and 2017, Bentley — a self-proclaimed communist from Austin, Texas — fought alongside pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine.
He had not taken part in the fighting since the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The former pothead, who used “Texas” as his military call-sign, left behind a yoga instructor girlfriend to travel to Ukraine.
He utilized crowdfunding sites to finance his trip, and had since become a Russian citizen.
He also got married after moving to Ukraine, where he began working as a reporter for the state-owned Sputnik news agency.
Margarita Simonyan, head of Russia’s state media outlet RT, confirmed Bentley’s death Friday, noting he had been “fighting there for our guys.”
Simonyan did not disclose how Bentley died.
Conflicting reports suggest Bentley was abducted by Russian soldiers and killed, possibly because they thought he was an American spy.
On social media, unsubstantiated claims circulated saying Bentley was raped prior to his murder, and was either shot eight times in the head or decapitated.
Bentley is said to have vanished while helping the victims of a Ukrainian strike on Donetsk.
Two years ago, Bentley was profiled in a Rolling Stone article titled “The Bizarre Story of How a Hardcore Texas Leftist Became a Frontline Putin Propagandist.”
For years, Bentley operated a YouTube channel that was banned in 2022.
Referring to himself as “The Donbas Cowboy,” he shared his views on the ongoing fighting between Russian-backed separatists and the Ukrainian military.
With Post wires
