Russell Bentley

Russell Bonner Bentley III (; 1960 – April 2024), also known as Texas and the Donbass Cowboy, was an American man who served in Vostok Battalion and XAH Spetsnaz Battalion in 2014, 2015 and 2017 on the side of the Donetsk People's Republic. He was a YouTuber until his channel was deleted in early 2022. He also worked for the Russian state-owned Sputnik news agency as a war correspondent. Prior to his activities in the Donbas, he was a marijuana activist and smuggler who was later convicted of drug smuggling and spent five years in prison.

Bentley, a self-declared communist, came to global attention in 2022, with a series of statements, and videos, about his intention to "liberate Ukraine from Nazis". By July 2016, he had been baptized into the Russian Orthodox Church. Provided by Wikipedia