Daniel Martindale, an American citizen who helped the Kremlin aim at Ukrainian troops and was then taken out of the east of Ukraine by the Russian special forces, has received a Russian passport in Moscow.
The Russian state television broadcast a report on Tuesday that shows Martindale, with a finish and dressed in suit and tie, smiling while receiving its new documents.
“I, Daniel Richard Martindale, voluntarily and consciously, accepting the citizenship of the Russian Federation, I swear to observe the Constitution,” he said in Russian.
“The belief that Russia is not only my home, but also my family, I am very happy that this is not only in my heart, but also by law,” Martindale told television cameras, which holds the Russian passport.
Martindale grew up in the state of New York and Indiana, son of missionaries who later moved to rural China, according to a Wall Street Journal report. A brief trip along the border to the Far East of Russia during the time of the family in China caused Martindale’s interest in Russia.
In 2018, Martindale, now in his 30 years, moved to Vladivostok, a Russian port city in the Pacific, where he studied Russian and taught English, before being deported a year later for violating labor laws, said the Journal.
He moved to the south of Poland, but was anxious to return to Russia, said the newspaper. In 2022, Martindale entered Ukraine a few days before President Vladimir Putin ordered thousands of troops to Ukraine.
Martindale told journalists at a press conference last November that he established contact with the pro-ruse forces through Telegram and approved information about the Ukrainian military facilities in the Donetsk region in the east of the country.
Reuters could not contact Martindale to ask about his motivation to help Russia. A spokesman for the United States Embassy in Moscow did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
On Tuesday, Denis Pushilin, the installed leader of Moscow of the part -controlled part of the Donetsk region, presented his Russian documents to Martindale, which according to him were granted by a Putin decree. Pushilin expressed his gratitude to Martindale, saying that part of the information he had shared formed the basis of Russian planning to take Kurakhove, a city near the Pokrovsk Key Logistics Center.
Martindale “has long demonstrated with his loyalty and actions that he is one of us.”
“For us, this (the Russian passport) is a sign of respect and a sign of gratitude for what Daniel has done.”
