April 24, 2024

"Texas" Killed in Donbas


"Texas" Killed in Donbas
Russell "Texas" Bentley Telegram

Sixty-four-year-old Russell Bentley, an American who operated under the alias "Texas," was recently killed in Donbas. He had previously worked for the Russian pro-Kremlin project Sputnik and fought in Donbas on the side of pro-Russian separatists.

Before his death, he was allegedly kidnapped by Russian military personnel; military bloggers assert that he was killed and possibly subjected to sexual assault.

A native of Texas, Russell Bentley joined the armed forces of the self-proclaimed DNR (Donetsk People's Republic) in 2014, serving with the pro-Russian Vostok battalion. Subsequently, he began working for the Sputnik news outlet, a project of the state-owned Rossiya Segonya (Russia Today). Bentley later married a woman from Donetsk and obtained Russian citizenship. After the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he provided coverage of the conflict in Ukraine from a pro-Kremlin perspective on his Telegram channel.

On April 8, Russell Bentley went missing following shelling in Donetsk. His wife, Lyudmila, said that he had gone to aid victims and had not been in contact since. On April 12, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the separatists Donetsk People's Republic initiated a search for Bentley. Three days later, Lyudmila announced that he had been abducted by Russian military personnel.

"My husband was forcibly taken and is currently being held illegally by members of the military, specifically tank crews from the 5th brigade," she wrote in a post published on the Bentley Telegram channel.

Later, the Telegram channel Kremlyevksaya Tabakerka (Kremlin Snuff Box), citing a source close to Donetsk People's Republic leader Denis Pushilin, reported that Bentley was detained on suspicion of espionage for NATO countries, subjected to sexual assault by the military, and then killed.

Other pro-war Telegram channels also reported on Bentley's killing. Some liken what happened to Bentley to the murder of separatist battalion commander Aleksandr Magushev, known by the call sign "Berg," who was killed in territory occupied by Russian troops with a gunshot to the back of the head.

Notably, Telegram channels that reported not only the death but specifically the murder of an American were censored. Aleksandr Khodakovsky, the commander of the unit in which Russell Bentley once fought, was compelled to remove his post. Other Telegram channels also report receiving threats from individuals wishing to report them for "discrediting the army."

You Might Also Like

A Brick in AWOL
  • April 16, 2024

A Brick in AWOL

In March 2024, Russian military courts began handing down about 34 sentences a day for unauthorized abandonment of military service.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
The Little Golden Calf

The Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955