Texac is Missing. Russell Bentley’s whereabouts unknown after 5 days of fruitless searches

Patrice Greanville

Russell Bentley, quickly nicknamed "Texac" after he first touched Slavonic ground, has always. been a highly improbable character. A native son of Texas, and a self-declared Communist, gifted with more than his share of valor and audacity, and above all a man of action, he didn't have to meditate too long to figure what he needed to do when he heard about the US coup in Kiev in 2014, and the ensuing war by the new neo-Nazi regime on the rebel republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. Echoing the International Brigades, he simply packed his things and made his way at his own expense to the Donbas, via Russia. Bentley decided to fight for the Donetsk People's Republic after being moved by the actions of the Ukrainian regime forces. He expressed a strong commitment to what he perceived as a "battle against fascism", driven by the desire to take a stand against what he saw as "injustices in Ukraine".  Once there, to the surprise of many (in his 50s, he was certainly not exactly in his prime), the US Army vet offered his services as a frontline soldier and in the ensuing years was involved in several (by now) almost legendary battles in the first war between the young but tough little republics and the much larger but apparently tactically deficient (though still vicious) NATO-supported Ukrop army. Russell was a member of the Vostok battalion. 

Russell honoring comrades

A few years later, having won the love and trust of the Donetsk people, he began to serve the young republic (now formally part of Russia) as an information officer. This was a natural transition, as Russell is also a gifted writer and the author of many articles describing his war experiences, ⁽¹⁾ not to mention the fact the Donbas rebels needed a voice that could speak eloquent English to the rest of the world. At the more personal level, Russell also met a woman who became his loyal companion, Lyudmila. It is she who is now seeking the authorities' help to locate her husband. Fact is, as the war began again in 2022, Russell and his wife —with typical defiance—decided to remain in their home, a spot dangerously close to the Ukrainian lines and easily within the reach of shells and other nastiness the Ukies have been regaling the Donetsk population with for over a decade.

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Given Russell's well-deserved fame, and the morale blow it could signify to Donetsk if he were to suddenly go missing, it is not unthinkable that he might have been the subject of a special op to kidnap him or outright kill him. After all, assassination ops are one of Kiev's specialities. That seems to be the logic behind his disappearance. Yes, the odds are not good, but I just hope I am proven completely wrong about this. No matter what his detractors may say, Russell was a hero. Something of a rarity in a culture that doesn't produce too many of his kind any more. 

Russell (left) with kin, during a visit back home.

⁽¹⁾ See The Donbass Cowboy: A War Journal by Russell Bentley, a book review by Mike Kuhlenbeck.

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Neo-Nazi ideology has become one of the main protagonists of political and social life in Ukraine since the 2014 coup d'état. And that's a fact. 

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