Journalist and Sputnik Contributor Russell Bentley Missing in Donetsk
April 17, 2024 in News by RBN Staff
Source: SputnikGlobe.com | SPUTNIK
US-born war correspondent and Sputnik regular contributor Russell Bentley, working in the Donbass, has gone missing in Donetsk on April 8, the DPR Ministry of Internal Affairs reported on Friday.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the republic has issued Bentley‘s missing alert. Sputnik’s editorial office is collaborating with law enforcement agencies in his search.
Bentley looks about 60-65 years old, is 180-185 cm tall, of thick build, with gray eyes, and short gray hair. He was seen wearing a black T-shirt, moss camouflage pants, camouflage boots, and had a green bag with him, the ministry added.
Texas-born American Russell Bonner Bentley, call sign “Texas”, has been working in Russia’s special military operation zone as a war correspondent.
Bentley, 64, joined the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) militia in 2014 and has been defending the region’s freedom against Ukrainian neo-Nazi forces since then, first as a soldier, then as a war correspondent.
Between 2014 and 2017 Bentley served in the Sut Vremeni (lit. “Essence of Time”) combat unit, Vostok Battalion and XAH Spetsnaz Battalion. Side by side with Donbass volunteers he fought in such hot spots as Donetsk Airport, Spartak, Avdeyevka, and Yasinovataya.
The war correspondent was baptized as an Orthodox Christian during the hostilities, and has raised funds and delivered humanitarian aid to Donbass civilians.
Bentley previously told Sputnik that he was compelled to come to the Donbass because he admired the people’s courage, steadfastness, and unwillingness to accept the US-backed illegitimate coup d’etat in Ukraine.
Bentley considered the Russian special military operation as the beginning of the end of the Kiev regime’s eight-year long war against Donbass, which he had firsthand knowledge of. The veteran repeatedly came under Ukrainian fire and emerged unscathed.
“There’s no place I’d rather be… Donetsk is my home and I’m going to live here the rest of my life,” Bentley once said.
