American-Born Russell ‘Texas’ Bentley Reportedly Dead – Pro-Russia Fighter Turned War Correspondent Vanished in Donetsk 11 Days Ago
By Paul Serran Apr. 19, 2024 2:00 pm
” American-born Sputnik correspondent Russell ‘Texas’ Bentley, died at the age of 64, his wife Lyudmila confirmed to the Russian news site. “
” Texas’ joined the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) militia as a fighter in 2014, resisting the Ukrainian forces and Nazi Azov militants, having later become a war correspondent. “
” While Russian sources (and authorities) have yet to confirm the cause of his reported death, he is feared to have been the latest journalist targeted for retaliation by Kiev’s services, like Daria Dugina, killed in a car bomb, Vladlem Tatarsky, killed with a ‘gift bomb’, or the American Gonzalo Lira, who died in a Ukrainian cell after reportedly being denied medical attention.
After retiring from military service in Donbas, Bentleу turned to humanitarian aid work and journalism. He converted to Russian Orthodox Christianity and, in 2021, received Russian citizenship. “
Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of Sputnik’s parent media group Rossiya Segodnya – and herself targeted by Ukrainian services – expressed her condolences:
“Russell Bentley, also known as Texas, a real American from Texas, died in Donetsk. He fought there for our people. Collaborated with our Sputnik. Terrible. R.I.P….”