Volunteering to fight for Vladimir Putin against Ukraine isn’t a great life decision, as the average new arrival in Ukraine has an average life expectancy just one month. But for Russell Bentley, a Texan who decided to become a Russian citizen, taking up arms against Putin’s enemies seems to have been his dream.
In early 2022, as Russian troops entered Ukraine, Bentley posted a YouTube video promising that he and his new Russian comrades would soon be “bringing the hammer down” on the country. But, in a darkly ironic twist, it seems the hammer ended up being brought down on Bentley himself by the Russian soldiers who tortured him to death.
