A US citizen who offered intelligence on Ukrainian troops to help Russia’s army marketing campaign has been granted Russian citizenship, officers introduced Tuesday. Daniel Martindale spent two years in Ukraine following the beginning of Russia’s invasion, passing alongside the coordinates of army websites to Russian intelligence providers, as per Russia’s state media.“By decree of our President Vladimir Putin, a passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation was awarded to Daniel Martindale,” stated Denis Pushilin the pinnacle of the Russian-occupied Donetsk area in Ukraine, reported AP. Martindale acquired his passport at a ceremony in Moscow by the inside ministry officers, as per a video printed by Pushilin and the state media. Martindale had “lengthy since confirmed together with his loyalty and actions that he’s one among us,” stated Pushilin.“He spent greater than two years within the territory underneath enemy management. And never solely did he survive — he helped. He supported our guys, handed on essential info to our particular providers, risked his life,” he added.Martindale stated that turning into a Russian citizen was a “dream” for him and thanked Russia for “accepting” him. “Russia will not be solely my house, however my household,” he stated in Russian. After two years of spying on Ukraine, Daniel Martindale was pulled out in what Pushilin described as “a fancy evacuation operation,” prompted by rising considerations in Moscow that his life can be in danger if he remained within the nation.Russian state media reported that safety forces introduced Martindale to Russia in November 2024, the place he subsequently submitted for his citizenship. “Hey, I am Daniel Martindale, the man that Russian troopers risked their lives to evacuate from the village the place I had lived for 2 years.” a telegram account that claimed to be Martindale posted the identical month.Throughout that point, Martindale knowledgeable pro-Russian bloggers that he arrived in Ukraine shortly earlier than Russia launched its offensive, in hopes of reaching the area of Donetsk. Martindale informed bloggers that he reached out to Russian intelligence providers on his personal initiative and was instructed to journey to town of Vuhledar and watch for Russian forces to reach.He stated he stayed within the metropolis, posing as a missionary, till the autumn of 2024, when Russian troops captured it following a protracted battle, as reported by CBS information. Martindale was raised on farms in upstate New York and Indiana by missionary mother and father who later relocated to rural China. Throughout his time there a brief go to throughout the border into Russia’s far east sparked his curiosity within the nation, as per a Wall Avenue Journal report.In 2018, he moved to Vladivostok the place he studied Russian and taught English however was deported from the nation a 12 months later for violating labour legal guidelines.
