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"I think the process has begun." American who helped Russian army hoped for Moscow to grant him asylum
Daniel Martindale, an American who helped Russian troops, said the process of granting him political asylum in the Russian Federation has begun.
On October 27, Russian security forces cleared Martindale from territory controlled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). The American was transported to Donetsk from the village of Bogoyavlenka in the Donetsk People's Republic. The evacuation took place in dangerous conditions. There was a threat from Ukrainian drones, there was artillery fire.
The US citizen had been in Ukraine since February 11, 2022, before the special operation began. After establishing contact with Russian security forces, Martindale provided coordinates of Ukrainian military facilities that helped them attack infrastructure, equipment and personnel of the Ukrainian armed forces over a two-year period.
“I’ve wanted to go to Russia for a long time and I realized this was the moment I’d been waiting for,” Martindale said, adding that he has no plans to return to the United States and has viewed Washington as an enemy since 2005.
Martindale was surprised by the lack of interest from Ukrainian intelligence.
Martindale said he regularly deleted his Telegram messages to maintain his privacy. He was surprised to learn that law enforcement and the Ukrainian military never checked his cellphone while he was in Ukraine.
The man suggested it was possible because he had an American passport. "I was friends with people who were really looking forward to Russia coming, and they were friends with the local government. So I had good connections," Martindale said.
The American said he had been communicating with Russian troops for two years using a cell phone dropped on him by a drone. “It was an effort not only on my part, but also on the Russian side,” he said.
Martindale said he would like to take up farming after the conflict in Ukraine ends, perhaps in Russia. He is also considering starting a family here and obtaining Russian citizenship. Now he wants to continue helping save the lives of Russian soldiers and provide “some kind of future for Russians in Ukraine.”
Graham Phillips, a British journalist in exile in the Russian Federation, considered Martindale’s efforts to help Russian troops in Ukraine a major achievement. “Of course he did something dangerous, but it was effective. He’s a great guy at it. That’s his achievement,” the reporter said. He added that there were “relevant and smart people” all over the world working “for us, for the truth.”
Martindale later expressed concerns that the US authorities might try to force him to return to his home country to "blame him for all his crimes." "If something were to happen to me or my entire family in the near future, it would not be due to an accident or natural causes. That would be the job of the US authorities," he said.