Russell Bentley: Pro-Russian Fighter from Texas Disappears in Donetsk

A US fighter named Russell Bentley, who fought with pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine, has been killed in occupied Donetsk, according to media reports.

Earlier this month, Russian authorities reported that the 64-year-old citizen of the United States and Russia had disappeared.

Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the Russia Today news channel and a close confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said in a statement on April 19 that Bentley, known as “Texas,” died in Donetsk fighting “for our people.”

Meanwhile, the Vostok Battalion, of which Bentley was a member, transmitted on Telegram a statement from the deputy chief of the Russian Guard in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Alexander Khodakovsky, saying that “those who killed Russell Bentley” will be held accountable “exemplary punishment”.

The new digital platform Al Jazeera 360 has documented Bentley’s story in the upcoming film “A Diary of a Fighter”, tracing his journey, his changes and the reasons behind his decision to fight alongside the Russian armed forces.

Here’s everything you need to know about the mysterious case of Russell Bentley:

Who was Russell Bentley?

Bentley grew up in Texas in the southwestern United States in a wealthy family that was both religious and conservative.

A self-proclaimed communist, he joined Russian forces in 2014 to fight in Ukraine’s eastern Donbass region.

Since December 2014, he lived in Petrovsky, Donetsk with his wife Ludmila, who comes from the eastern Ukrainian region.

He reportedly received Russian citizenship in 2021 and began working as a correspondent at the pro-Kremlin Russian news agency Sputnik last year.

Bentley had described himself as a “poet” and said that the United States today is “governed by a group of primal fascists and oligarchic corporations, enemies of Russia and all of humanity.”

He said he had dedicated his life to fighting them, particularly after the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, which he said were “based on lies and that they were committing crimes against humanity there.”

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, which is controlled by Russian forces, at around 3:30 p.m. (12:30 GMT). Upon arrival, they heard reports of casualties due to shelling, which prompted the fighter to volunteer and help the victims.

She decided to wait for him in the building.

But when he didn’t return around 4:15 p.m., she became concerned.

Witnesses later told her that a person who could not speak Russian fluently and had no identification papers had been kidnapped. The subject was reportedly blindfolded and held for unknown reasons before being taken away.

Ludmila said that her husband’s broken phone, as well as his hat and glasses, lay next to their car.

Since she couldn’t find the car keys, she decided to return the next morning. However, witnesses told her that two people in military fatigues took the car before she arrived.

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

Ludmila called for his release on his Telegram channel, saying he had been “kidnapped” by Russian soldiers from a tank battalion.

She said she contacted police, who opened a criminal case that was referred to a “military investigative committee.”

She handed over her husband’s phone after it was repaired, but said she hasn’t heard from police since.

What is likely behind this development as Russia’s war in Ukraine rages on?

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

Alexander Korobko, a friend of Bentley’s and a producer for the Al Jazeera film crew, said in a Facebook post on April 12 that, according to witnesses, Bentley was “kidnapped by people in disguise.” He suspected that they probably thought he was a spy and took him to military interrogators.

Korobko said he had been in contact with Bentley several days before his abduction to film additional scenes with him and his wife.

Aside from the ongoing war, there is no particular threat surrounding Bentley, he said.

He said Bentley’s abduction highlights the challenges of enforcing law and order in the Donetsk region where he was kidnapped, as it is “one of the gray areas” where specific control is lacking.

He said that he and everyone who knows Bentley appreciated “his humanitarian work and especially his military work” and described him as an “extraordinary personality.”

During the conflict, which has been ongoing since February 24, 2022, both Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have been accused of war crimes. Thousands of civilians, including children, as well as thousands of soldiers on both sides were killed. Parts of Ukraine were also destroyed.

Officials from Russia, the United States and Ukraine do not appear to have officially responded to the Bentley case.