New news from his account, now run by his wife. She says that he was kidnapped by tankers … which … wat??? Here:
I, Lyudmila Nikolaevna Bentley, have received reliable and confirmed information about the circumstances of the “disappearance” of my husband, Russell Bonner Bentley, call sign “Texas”.
Invoking the right of a journalist not to disclose the source of information (based on Article 41 of the Russian Federation Law on mass media), I cannot name my source. But the information is ironclad and does not raise any doubts.
My husband was taken and continues to be illegally detained by the tankers of the 5th Brigade (of the RF Armed Forces). Russell was brutally detained on April 8, 2024, between approximately 16:20 and 17:00 hours, in the Avtobaza area of the Petrovsky district of Donetsk.
I CALL ON EVERYONE to do EVERYTHING POSSIBLE to save my husband, our “Texas”, starting with appeals to the Office of the Head of the DPR, to the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation, to the leadership of the Ministry of Defence and the General Staff, to the top officials to the Investigative Committee, the FSB, the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
I ask all Russell’s friends, all caring people to do everything to save my husband, a friend of Donbass and Russia.
Perhaps, there is not much time.
I think you will all join me in saying, “huh??” while scratching your head and looking confused. That’s what I look like right now.
Also, asking for a favor from the spooks is like approaching the Godfather and asking him for a favor. You don’t want to be in debt to these people. Better dead than FED, as I like to say. The good news is that he’s alive and that’s what matters! That 48 hours thing is yet another unfounded meme promulgated by American television, as it turns out.
Let’s see what happens next.
Original article follows:
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I’ve been sitting on this news for a couple of days at this point because I was hoping for more information to surface and for Bentley to be found. This has not occurred. It is time to talk about what may have happened.
Let’s start with the latest news from his wife at the time of me writing. Here:
The media company "Russian Hour", which recently made a film about Russell Bentley (call sign "Texas"), WILL PAY A REWARD to those who have reliable information about the whereabouts of "Texas", who saw (and can describe in detail) or could film the arrest on their phone/ kidnapping of Russell Bentley in the Avtobaza area in the Petrovsky district of Donetsk on April 8, 2024 after 16:15 and/or knows about the location of Russell’s white Niva state. number M985AN 180, which was parked on April 8 after 16:15 at the Avtobaza public stop in the Petrovsky district in front of the “Products” stall.
ON APRIL 8 AT 15:30, RUSSELL AND MY WIFE ARRIVED TO THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE IN THE PETROVSKY DISTRICT OF DONETSK FOR PERSONAL AFFAIRS AND ENDED UP CLOSE TO THE AREA OF SHELLING NEAR THE APU VEHICLE BASE AND THE ADJACENT LIVING QUARTERS. RUSSELL DECIDED TO GO TO FIND OUT IF ANY WOUNDED NEEDED HIS HELP. I AM NOT ABLE TO GET IN CONTACT WITH HIM ANYMORE. THE SEARCH CONTINUES AND ANY INFORMATION ABOUT THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF HIS DISAPPEARANCE IS IMPORTANT!!!
Please contact Russell's wife Lyudmila at +7(949)412-04-85.
And now let’s discuss the possibilities surrounding what may have happened to “Texas”.
Possibility 1:
First off, Russell disappeared on Russian-controlled territory. He was in Donetsk when his kidnapping occurred. Let me take this opportunity to share some information about what the DNR and Donetsk is like.
Put simply: if you remember nothing else about Donbass, remember this — it is a gangland.
Organized crime is rampant. As is the drug trade. People disappear and people are killed off with ease and almost as frequently as in a black city in America. I did an interview with a local pro-Russian activist from there, which you should read now, but which is focused more on the political side of things:
Anyone has been there or lived there (in Donetsk) can also confirm that the place is absolutely crawling with spooks from Moscow.
NOTE: if you want to read about my general impressions about life in different parts of Ukraine, I will put it at the end of this post. I think it might help people contextualize the situation. But for now let’s focus on Bentley’s plight, specifically.
I have spoken to Russell on the phone before on several occasions. He griped with me about the handling of the war and the treachery of the “Russian” spook state. We both agreed that there was nothing “Russian” about the people running Moscow. Imagine that — a Communist and a Nationalist seeing eye to eye on pretty much everything so long as ideology was ignored and so long as we were conversing about real things instead of going at each others’ throats over matters of secular faith.
In particular, what incensed him the most was that young FSB braggarts liked to ride around in luxury cars (the exact brand eludes me now) and, showboat in a poverty-stricken region where people have had their lives upended and have been asked to sacrifice their lives in the name of the Not-War. Worse, he believed that the FSB were harassing and shaking down the locals. At the time that we spoke, they were also creating a firearms registry and confiscating “illegal” weapons from locals, who literally lived near an active war zone. This should sound familiar because they did the same in Belgorod as well, which I wrote about several times. But you don’t need Bentley’s primary account to have known that there is a lot of spook shenanigans going on in Donbass — this is all rather common knowledge (in Russia and Ukraine).
Now, Bentley was vocally critical of the Kremlin both in private and in his public appearances. He was one of the first to break with the ZAnon victory propaganda narrative. Here:
So, the first and most obvious explanation is that the FSB picked him up.
There are some other details that might lend even more credence to this theory.
First, all critics of the Kremlin’s handling of the war (from the patriotic camp) have, in one way or the other, been silenced. The original militia commanders who led the rebellion are all dead (except Khodakovsky, who is Chosen, and a “former” SBU spook, of course). The rest got arrested, or killed themselves, or narrowly escaped death and toned down all their criticism.
Far be it for me to say anything illegal here but … well … patterns do exist and some hate-filled pattern-noticers such as myself can’t help but notice that occupying a “right-of-Kremlin” position is a very dangerous position to find oneself in. It doesn’t seem to matter if you are a Communist or a Monarchist or whatever — if you demand that Shoigu do a better job, well … let’s just admit that there is practically no one left who openly critiques Shoigu from the patriotic perspective any more.
That’s all I’m saying. It’s probably a coincidence. Draw your own conclusions.
Secondly, in recent months, Bentley appeared to have a total change of heart. This is some insider baseball, but, out of the blue he messaged me and with no preliminary exchange of pleasantries or anything, denounced me as a Fascist and blocked me on Telegram. I didn’t know what to make of this because we were on good terms before that, and it was so unexpected what he said. I chalked this up to him either mistaking me for someone else or his volatile personality or, well him relapsing into drug use.
But, shortly after, he landed a writing gig with Sputnik and his posting made a 180 degree turn.
Suddenly, the Ukrop-Nazis were on the run and Russia was back to kicking ass in the Donbass, yee-haw! I started to wonder if, maybe, he had felt that his back was up against the wall and that he had to change his tune for one reason or the other going forward.
Again, just speculation on my part.
Possibility 2:
There is a large and very noxious drug trade that flourishes in Donbass. This might be related to the above point about the spook presence. The spook agencies are the primary drug dealers in America, and, as I found out, in Kiev-controlled Ukraine, and in Russia. Ukrainian soldiers and Russians to some extent, from what I’ve heard from war-correspondents, use copious amounts of drugs. Pain-killers, marijuana, meth, synthetic heroin and so on while on the job. I guess Ernst Junger would approve. Although, no warrior-poet-mystics have emerged from this war yet, to my knowledge.
There has been some speculation that the kidnapping of Russell was related to drugs.
This is a distinct possibility, if I am being honest.
I don’t want to badmouth Bentley here, but, if you didn’t know, he was involved in drug trafficking in the United States before he came to Donbass. This information is freely available on NAFO accounts and Western Antifa sites where they point out that Bentley was a drug-trafficking convicted felon in the United States. I spoke to Bentley about it and he does not deny this story and even shared some interesting vignettes with me about how it all went down.
All in all, if he was in any way involved with the drug lords or on their bad side, well, then … it’s a possibility, is all I am saying.
And, these are the only two possibilities that make sense to me at all.
The SBU or the UAF has not taken credit for his capture or killing. As far as I’ve seen so far, there is simply silence on their part. They’re not above killing pro-Russians for PR reasons, but I’d think someone would take credit for it, at this point. I mean, why not?
Worse, what are we even saying if we believe that Bentley was taken captive by the SBU or the UAF? This all occurred in Donetsk — a city under Russian and Donbass crimelord militia control. How is Kiev able to enter one of the most militarized zones in the world right now, a place teeming with FSB spooks and soldiers, and snatch up a rather well-known pro-Russian American volunteer-vet?
How is this possible?
And, why has no one in Russia reported anything about what would amount to a black ops infiltration mission that got in and out and took captives without being noticed by anyone in charge of the city’s defenses? That would be sensational if it had occurred, no?
Worse for the Bentleys, there has been no ransom demand and, more than 72 hours have now passed since his disappearance. In America, the police usually gives up after 48 hours and presumes someone dead past that point.
I didn’t want to report this story immediately, because I was hoping that news would emerge of Bentley being released after an interrogation by friendly spooks with a new and improved view of the political situation and newfound appreciation for Moscow’s policies. Or, that the drug lords were demanding a money ransom assuming that Bentley has deep-pocketed Western supporters. I don’t want to declare him dead, but, it is rare to disappear for so long and under such suspicious circumstances, and it does not bode well for the people to whom this happens to.
I think I speak for everyone when I say that I’m deeply disturbed and outraged by the capture/kidnapping of Russell Bentley. Let us hope for some good news coming to light in the coming days. The world is a dangerous place for patriots who dare to speak the truth about the lies coming from either the West or the East. Those who dare to stand up against the lies, in whatever way they can, deserve all of our support and respect.
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The rest is just context about the drug/spook/cultural situation in Ukraine, as I saw and experienced it. I don’t want to offend anyone by sharing my raw and unvarnished view of Ukraine, so, become a Stalker if you want to learn more.
