Russell Bentley: Why I Am Not An 'Independent Journalist'

When I came to Donbass in December, 2014, I came here on a one way ticket with a 30 day visa and no intention of going back.

I did not come here to make money or to make a name for myself or to become an "internet star". I came here to fight, to kill the neo-Nazis who were murdering innocent and unarmed Donbass civilians, to defend those civilians, and to stand beside the true Heroes who put their lives on the line to defend Donbass, Russia and the future of humanity. And that is what I have done.

I arrived at my first combat position near the Donetsk airport at dawn on the morning of December 31, 2014. My visa ran out at midnight that night. There was no turning back, no way out, nor was I looking for one. When I came here, I did not really expect to live to see the spring, but I did, and almost ten years later, I'm still here, and I'm still fighting, but now in the information war, which is every bit as crucial as the military and economic wars are. These days, a camera and computer are my weapons, and facts and words are my bullets. As a soldier, I could reach 400 meters with my AK, and 900 meters with an RPG. As an information warrior, my words have gone around the world.

I served in combat in the DPR Army through most of 2015 in the VOSTOK and XAH Spetsnaz Battalion, and for four months in the summer of 2017 with the DPR MVD. For the rest of the last nine, almost ten years now, I have worked as an information warrior and human aid volunteer, supporting the citizens and defenders of the Donbass Republics. That's been my self-chosen job, and for all these years, other than being paid for my time as a soldier, I have never been paid by the DPR or Russian Federation. I have supported myself and my wife through contributions from supporters around the world, but mostly from the West. Since the SMO began in 2022, it has been almost impossible to transfer funds from the West into Russia. The last year and a half or so have been very hard times for us financially, so thank God (and whoever else was involved) that Sputnik International News has offered me a job, to be their eyes and ears on the ground in Donbass. And I am very glad to do it.

Some of my friends and colleagues have warned me that by taking a job with Russian media, I will jeopardize my "impartiality", my "objectivity", and my ability to offer a "balanced view" of the war in Ukraine. I will no longer be an "independent journalist". I could not care less about any of that. What kind of "balanced view" is needed between good and evil, between mass murdering war criminals and innocent civilians? What obligation do I (or anyone else) have to give equal time to an openly Nazi perspective, as if it weren't already mass-produced by Western governments and media, flooding the world on a daily basis for the last decade or more already? I do not do this job for the money. I have been independent since I got here, and remain so, whether I get paid or not. I say what I think and write what I want, I speak the truth, regardless of who likes it or not. That I speak my mind is a well-known fact, as many have attested, and not always in the most complimentary terms. So be it.

Unlike almost all of the foreign war correspondents reporting from Donbass, I am not foreign. I am a citizen of Russia and the DPR, I live here, I am defending my own home and my family here, I'm not going anywhere, I will live and die here. And when it comes to defending my home, I have done more than just talk. I am not a "war correspondent", I am a warrior correspondent. And proud of it. Being a war correspondent is an honorable vocation. To tell the truth from a war zone, especially when that truth goes against the dominant paradigm and the popular fiction, takes courage, determination and integrity. And most of the war correspondents in Donbass on our side of this war have these qualities. I have the greatest respect for those who do.

I have been called a "Russian propagandist" and "Putin's troll" since I first started speaking out against the Maidan coup and the neo-Nazis who instigated it, and whether I get paid or not, my enemies and detractors will not stop now. But to those who trust and support me, I make a solemn vow - the truth is our most powerful weapon, and I will defend it with my honor and with my life if need be. Respect for the truth is the basis of all morality, there is no amount of money that anyone could pay me to betray it. Deception is a powerful weapon. The only weapon that can defeat it is the truth, so that is the weapon that I will use, that we will use, together, to bring down the Empire of Lies.

I do not claim, nor do I intend, to be impartial. This war is not simply Russia against Ukraine, or NATO against Russia, this is a war of genuine evil against the future of humanity, and I have chosen my side. I will fight with every weapon that God and humanity will allow, but I will never use the weapon of deception against my comrades or myself. Out of military necessity and because of security concerns, I cannot and will not always reveal everything I know, but you can rest assured that everything I do write or say will be the truth, as far as I know it. I'd rather be an honest man on the side of God, Russia and humanity, than an independent journalist any day. And that is what I am, and will continue to be. See ya on the frontlines. Davai!