A conspiracy theorist US citizen who’s boasted about helping the Kremlin target troops in Ukraine for the past two years is now begging for Russian citizenship.
Daniel Martindale, 33, appeared before Russian state media on Saturday showing off his US passport and birth certificate, claiming he previously worked as a missionary in Poland before entering Ukraine when the Kremlin’s invasion began in early 2022.
“For the last two years, I have done everything to save the lives of Russian soldiers and ensure some kind of future for Russians in Ukraine,” the defector said. “I would like to continue doing this.”
Martindale allegedly made contact early on with Russian forces via Telegram, passing on key information of Ukraine’s infrastructure and details on the Donetsk region, which has seen some of the most intense fighting of the war.
The Kremlin had allegedly provided Martindale with a phone to contact its forces with a drone, according to the Russian Izvestia newspaper.
Martindale continued to work with the Kremlin until Russian soldiers fighting in the village of Bohoyavlenka, in Donetsk, took him out of the combat zone and back to Russia.
A Russian VKontakte social media page linked to Martindale says he was born in 1991 and studied at a private university in Indiana before traveling to Europe, Radio Free Europe reported.
Social media posts link him to a visit in the Russian city of Vladivostok in 2018 before he changed his profile to living in Poland by 2020, according to RFE.
No further details about Martindale’s alleged work for Moscow were provided, and his claims have yet to be verified.
The US Embassy in Moscow has yet to comment on Martindale.
Along with boasting about his defection and exploits with the Russian army, Martindale told Russian media that he has no plans of returning to America.
“I understand from about 2005 that the United States government is my enemy, personally, because of the fact that they are responsible for the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11th, 2001,” he said, reiterating the conspiracy theory.
Rather than go home, Martindale said he wanted to stay in Moscow, acquire Russian citizenship, and spend his days in the countryside.
“When the war is over and peace is restored, I would like to go back to farming,” he said. “I would like to start a family in Russia.
“Perhaps to get involved in the production of farming household equipment for the Russian market, for the international market,” he added.
With Post wires
