Russell Bentley, RIP

[Surly1]

For the old hands from the Diner who remember the Russell Bentley discussion and threads, this sad news:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/pro-putin-american-russell-bentley-fighting-against-ukraine-has-been-killed/

[K-Dog]

For the old hands from the Diner who remember the Russell Bentley discussion and threads, this sad news:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/pro-putin-american-russell-bentley-fighting-against-ukraine-has-been-killed/

I'll see if I can find an old post or video.  Unfortunately I fear the clean-out by men in black may have erased what we have.  That could be the deep state of things.

I have been wondering what became of Russell.

[TDoS]

For the old hands from the Diner who remember the Russell Bentley discussion and threads, this sad news:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/pro-putin-american-russell-bentley-fighting-against-ukraine-has-been-killed/

Who is Russell Bentley? Other than what the article says, an American fighting in some foreign war of his own free will.

[K-Dog]

For the old hands from the Diner who remember the Russell Bentley discussion and threads, this sad news:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/pro-putin-american-russell-bentley-fighting-against-ukraine-has-been-killed/

Who is Russell Bentley? Other than what the article says, an American fighting in some foreign war of his own free will.

Sometimes I ignore your ignorance, sometimes I don't.  For someone to have been around the Diner as long as you claim, it is odd not knowing who Russell is.

Born:
    June 20, 1960, Austin, Texas, United States

Died:
    April 19, 2024 (63 years)

Website:
    russelltexasbentley.com/

Russell Bentley: Pro-Russia fighter from US dies after Donetsk 'abduction'

Russians call for 'revenge' after the 64-year-old US-Russian citizen, who's fought against Ukraine, dies.  A US fighter named Russell Bentley who fought with pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine has been killed in occupied Donetsk, Al Jazeera can confirm.  Earlier this month, Russian authorities reported that the 64-year-old citizen of the United States and Russia had gone missing.

Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the Russia Today news channel and a close confidante of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said on April 19 that Bentley, known as "Texas", died in Donetsk fighting "for our people", in an announcement made on X.

Meanwhile, the Vostok Batallion, of which Bentley was a member, carried on Telegram a statement forwarded by the deputy head of the Russian Guard in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Alexander Khodakovsky, saying that "those who killed Russell Bentley" be dealt with "exemplary punishment".

The new digital platform Al Jazeera 360 has documented Bentley's story in a soon-to-air film, A Diary of a Fighter, tracing his journey, transformations, and reasons for choosing to fight alongside Russian forces.

Bentley was known as "Texas" to his fellow separatist fighters.

Who was Russell Bentley?

Bentley was raised in Texas in the southwestern US in a wealthy family that was both religious and conservative.  A self-declared communist, he joined Russian forces to fight in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region in 2014.  Since December 2014, he lived in Petrovsky, Donetsk, with his wife Ludmila, who is native to the eastern Ukrainian region.

He reportedly obtained Russian citizenship in 2021, and last year started working as a correspondent with the pro-Kremlin Russian news agency Sputnik.  Bentley had described himself as a "poet" and had said the US today is "governed by a group of original fascists and oligarchic companies, enemies of Russia and humanity as a whole".  He said he devoted his life to fighting against them, especially after the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, which he claimed were "based on lies, and their committing crimes against humanity there".

Al Jazeera's Awad Joumaa, who directed the upcoming documentary, said: "The film follows the tumultuous life of 'Texas', from his birth and upbringing in Texas to a conservative and religious wealthy family, to the developments his country underwent such as the Vietnam War and the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Then, his fighting with the US army, and subsequently his imprisonment for five years for drug trafficking activities. Finally, it explores his arrival in Russia at the end of 2014 to fight, what he called the 'real evil' and 'Nazis of the twenty-first century'."

Russia often vilifies Ukraine as a country that plays host to Nazi elements, a charge Kyiv and its Western allies say is overplayed by Moscow.
What happened the day he disappeared?

Ludmila Bentley said her husband disappeared on April 8.  She told Al Jazeera that she and her spouse arrived at the Petrovsky Municipal Building in the Donetsk region, controlled by Russian forces, around 3:30pm (12:30 GMT). Upon arrival, they heard reports of casualties from shelling, prompting the fighter to volunteer and help victims.  She opted to wait for him inside the building.

However, when he didn't return by around 4:15pm, she became concerned.

Witnesses later informed her that a person who was unable to speak Russian fluently and lacked identification papers was abducted. The person was reportedly blindfolded, and restrained before being taken away for reasons that are unknown to her.

Ludmila said that next to their car lay her husband's phone, which was shattered, along with his hat and glasses.  Unable to locate the car keys, she decided to return the next morning. However, witnesses told her that two individuals in military attire had taken the car prior to her arrival.

Bentley's recovered bag contained his Russian passport, military ID, driver's license, personal bank cards, firearm and carry license.

Ludmila posted on his Telegram channel, demanding his release, stating he was "kidnapped" by Russian soldiers belonging to a tank battalion.  She said she's contacted the police, who have opened a criminal case that has been transferred to a "military investigation committee".  She handed over her husband's phone after it was repaired, but said she hasn't heard from the police since.

What's likely behind this development, as Russia's war rages on in Ukraine?

According to the Astra Telegram channel, which is run by independent journalists and focuses on developments in and about Russia, Bentley disappeared while filming the aftermath of a Ukrainian attack on a military unit.

Alexander Korobko, a friend of Bentley and producer on the Al Jazeera filming team, said in a Facebook post on April 12 that according to witnesses, Bentley was "taken by people in camouflage". He suggested they probably mistook him for a spy and took him to military interrogators.

Korobko said he had been in contact with Bentley a few days before his abduction to shoot more scenes with him and his wife.  Except for the ongoing war, he said there was no specific threat surrounding Bentley.  He said Bentley's death highlights the challenges of enforcing order and law in the Donetsk region, where he was abducted, as it is "one of the grey areas" lacking specific control.  He said that he and everyone who knows Bentley appreciate "his humanitarian work and, most importantly, his military work," describing him as an "extraordinary personality". 

Both Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have been accused of war crimes throughout the conflict, which has been ongoing since February 24, 2022. Thousands of civilians have been killed, including children, as well as thousands of troops on either side. Parts of Ukraine have also been destroyed.

Officials from Russia, the US and Ukraine have not officially responded to Bentley's death.

* I recall RE talked to Russell on the phone, or was trying to.

** if the two soldiers were looking for the ID and Russell's wife had taken the documents after she could not find the car keys, that might have prevented Russell from establishing who he was.  That might have done Russell in.  If the soldiers thought Russell had something to do with the Ukrainian attack, it did.

[RE]

Better known on the Diner as "Hemingway of the Donbass".  Like Ernest who went to fight against Fascism in the Spanish Civil War prior to WWII,  Russel fought with the Russians against the Fascist goobermint of Ukraine, backed by the FSoA.

He stayed alive remarkably long, given what he volunteered himself for.  Definitely had the courage of his convictions.

Here's the first of my two part discussion with "Texac", shortly after his first battles on the Front Lines.

You can find part 2 on the Diner UTube Channel.

RIP Russell.

RE

[K-Dog]

I can't believe it has been 8 years. 

You have so many videos I had to search to find it.  I remember using the Fascist Spain footage about the time the Special Military Operation started.

Hemingway of the Donbass Russel will always be.

[RE]

You have so many videos I had to search to find it.  I remember using the Fascist Spain footage about the time the Special Military Operation started.

Hemingway of the Donbass Russel will always be.

I linked to the archive list page on purpose so readers would have to search for it instead of just watching here.  That way maybe they would watch another 1 or 2 also.  Glad you found it.  I'll delete your embed though after a day or 2 so other readers will also have to go search. 

Rusell found love also while following his belief, he married while he was there to a Ukrainian woman, and after the first couple of years as a front line soldier became an InfoWarrior, making videos and raisng money to help the people of Uktaine in their fight against Fascism.  Can't remember the channel name, and I think they may have removed it.  Here's a LIST of many vids featuring Russell.

Here's a vid from the Airport Battle, which was his first major engagement shortly after arriving.

RE

[K-Dog]

Hold off on deleting the video.  If anyone actually checks it out they will know you have other videos. 

I sent info about the videos with a link to the Diner Post to the Jimmy Dore show.  We do not want to make it hard for Jimmy's staff to find the videos.  You made them.  If a clip is shown on the Jimmy Dore show sometime in the future, that is about the same coverage as mentioning the Diner on the five o'clock news in a large city.

If Jimmy does any coverage of Russell he would be stupid NOT to use an exclusive source.  Which you are.  So don't make it hard to find.  We want to help a comrade out if we can.  And get more publicity at one time than we have ever had.

[RE]

OK, I'll leave it.

RE

[TDoS]

Who is Russell Bentley? Other than what the article says, an American fighting in some foreign war of his own free will.

Sometimes I ignore your ignorance, sometimes I don't.  For someone to have been around the Diner as long as you claim, it is odd not knowing who Russell is.

Sometimes I ignore your ignorance, sometimes I don't. And I pay attention to the people and things that provide examples of perspectives in the doom-o-sphere, political heros or zeros of one gang or another aren't on that list.

[TDoS]

Found something surfing randomly about Bentley's untimely demise.

KYIV Post

Moscow's US Propagandist 'Donbas Cowboy' Was Killed by Russian Troops
The preliminary investigation by Russia's Investigative Committee accused four Russian servicemen of the kidnap and murder of the American Russell Bentley, a Russian "war correspondent."

by Kyiv Post | September 20, 2024, 2:06 pm
Moscow's US Propagandist 'Donbas Cowboy' Was Killed by Russian Troops
Russell Bentley pictured in Ukraine in May 2022. Photo: sputnik
Related topics
Ukraine Donetsk Luhansk War in Ukraine
 
The Russian state news agency TASS reported on Friday that the Main Military Investigative Department of Moscow's Investigative Committee confirmed that four Russian servicemen have been charged in connection with the kidnap, torture and murder of the American Russell Bentley in April, while he worked for the Spunik propaganda outlet in the Donbas region.

The investigation found that on April 8, Bentley, who was known as the "Donbas Cowboy," was abducted while filming the aftermath of a Ukrainian artillery strike in Donetsk's Petrovsky District.

 It is alleged that three Russian servicemen Vitaly Vansyatsky, Vladislav Agaltsov and Andrey Iordanov, a tank crew from Moscow's 5th Zakharchenko Brigade violently kidnapped Bentley, took him to an unidentified location where they interrogated and tortured him which, in the words of the committees indictment involved "actions that clearly went beyond their authority and which through negligence resulted in the death of the victim."

Do I not understand the story? So this guy was a claimed Russian propagandist, the Russians maybe decided they didn't like his press for them so they offed him? He knew about Russian atrocities maybe, and was about to turn coat? Anyway, first time I've seen anything related to this guy in wanderings among the mainstream press.