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‘Traitor’: Texas Man Fighting for Russia’s Side in Ukraine Faces Serious Backlash [VIDEO]

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It seems that Vladimir Putin has found a rather, well, unusual, supporter — of sorts. That supporter, Russell Bonner “Texas” Bentley has thrown in with the Russian leader and is “currently on the front with Russian troops” in Ukraine.

Bentley’s most recent social media video shows him surrounded by Russian troops in Ukraine and it has amassed millions of views. And according to his own website, Bentley has been blogging about the war in Ukraine’s Donbas region since 2014, after traveling there from Austin, Texas.

Bentley, who likes to call himself “The Donbas Cowboy” has regularly posted videos on his YouTube channel for years, usually speaking in favor of Russia from the ground in Ukraine, Newsweek reports. He’s been habitually posting videos supporting Russian troops since they invaded Ukraine on February 24, but his latest video really caught fire on Twitter. The video has been viewed more than 2.1 million views.

That same 40-second video, titled “ON THE FRONT WITH RUSSIAN TROOPS TODAY was posted to YouTube on Monday, and in it, you see Bentley speaking at the “front line:”

“I’m with the de-Nazifyers and liberators of Ukraine. These guys are tough, these guys are ready and there’s plenty of them,” he says. “So far Russia has used about 10 percent of its military power and we’re getting ready to bring the hammer down. These guys are gonna save and liberate all the good people in Ukraine, and the bad people, ‘Boom’ kick their ass.”

It would be easy to dismiss Bentley as a nutter but that would be a mistake. As RollingStone notes, Bentley, a former marijuana legalization activist, who once ran for the Senate in Minnesota on a third-party ticket and did a stint in jail for felony marijuana trafficking.

He’s a complicated dude who comes from a wealthy family, and yet has studied the writings of Ho Chi Minh and Che Guevara, and he says hard-left causes have always drawn him in.

“I was reading Ho Chi Minh and Che Guevara,” he told Rollingstone. “I understood the Vietnamese were right to defend their land against foreign invaders, and that the United States was wrong. I understood that Fidel and Che were right to overthrow the foreign masters that had turned Cuba into a casino and bordello.”

He adds:

“I’m anti-racist. I’m anti-imperialist. I grew up supporting people’s rights to defend themselves.”

I wanted to point this out because Bentley seems to have put careful thought into all of this. I’m not saying whether any of this is right or wrong; frankly, I’m not even sure what to think.

But since his arrival in Donetsk in December 2014, his story has been recounted in many places, Newsweek said. On his website, Bentley writes he is “doing information warfare for the Donetsk People’s Republic.” This area is a self-proclaimed breakaway state in Ukraine and it’s at the center of the crisis.

The former arborist (tree surgeon) from Round Rock, Austin, Texas before traveling to Ukraine found himself engrossed in “Russian media that blamed the war on U.S.-backed Nazis.”

In the aftermath, Bentley has been involved in scores of conflicts within the Donbas region and continually posts pro-Russian and pro-DPR on his YouTube channel.

His website reports Bentley believes “Fascism has again raised its ugly head, and we are here to fight and defeat it.”

Newsweek reports that his “frontline” video featuring Russian troops posted to his more than 16,000 YouTube subscribers drew more than 100,000 views. YouTube has since removed the video, stating it violates community guidelines.

I have to admit this is the only article I’ve ever written where I really don’t know what to think. All I know is I see terrorized people fleeing with their children and pets, mass destruction, and deaths of Ukrainians and Russians alike. I still believe Putin is a vile man for doing this.

All I know is I want the suffering to end. Millions of us all across the world want this to happen. But I know it won’t.

I am deeply saddened and distraught over this. I wish humans would learn a better way than war to resolve conflicts but we don’t seem to be very good at doing this.

Here’s the controversial video below.

People are obviously disgusted:

Here’s a recent interview Bentley did with Newsweek and it’s pretty bad:

Megan Hamilton
meet the author

Megan has lived in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida and she currently lives in Central America. Living in these places has informed her writing on politics, science, and history. She is currently owned by 15 cats and 3 dogs and regularly owns Trump supporters when she has the opportunity. She can be found on Twitter at https://twitter.com/GaiaLibra and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/politicalsaurus

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