‘One of us': US citizen who spied on Ukraine gets citizenship in Russia; says becoming Russian citizen was a ‘dream'

Time of India

15-07-2025

Image: X/@RT_com
A US citizen who provided intelligence on Ukrainian troops to support Russia's military campaign has been granted Russian citizenship, officials announced Tuesday.
Daniel Martindale spent two years in Ukraine following the start of Russia's invasion, passing along the coordinates of military sites to Russian intelligence services, 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," said Denis Pushilin the head of the Russian-occupied Donetsk region in Ukraine, reported AP.
Martindale received his passport at a ceremony in Moscow by the interior ministry officials, as per a video published by Pushilin and the state media.
Martindale had "long since proven with his loyalty and actions that he is one of us,' said Pushilin.
"He spent more than two years in the territory under enemy control. And not only did he survive -- he helped. He supported our guys, passed on important information to our special services, risked his life," he added.
Martindale said that becoming a Russian citizen was a 'dream' for him and thanked Russia for 'accepting' him. "Russia is not only my home, but my family," he said in Russian.
After two years of spying on Ukraine, Daniel Martindale was pulled out in what Pushilin described as "a complex evacuation operation," prompted by growing concerns in Moscow that his life would be at risk if he remained in the country.
Russian state media reported that security forces brought Martindale to Russia in November 2024, where he subsequently submitted for his citizenship.
"Hello, I'm Daniel Martindale, the guy that Russian soldiers risked their lives to evacuate from the village where I had lived for two years." a telegram account that claimed to be Martindale posted the same month.
During that time, Martindale informed pro-Russian bloggers that he arrived in Ukraine shortly before Russia launched its offensive, in hopes of reaching the region of Donetsk.
Martindale told bloggers that he reached out to Russian intelligence services on his own initiative and was instructed to travel to the city of Vuhledar and wait for Russian forces to arrive.
He said he stayed in the city, posing as a missionary, until the fall of 2024, when Russian troops captured it following a prolonged battle, as reported by CBS news.
Martindale was raised on farms in upstate New York and Indiana by missionary parents who later relocated to rural China. During his time there a short visit across the border into Russia's far east sparked his interest in the country, as per a Wall Street Journal report.
In 2018, he moved to Vladivostok where he studied Russian and taught English but was deported from the country a year later for violating labour laws.