Russell Bentley, 64, reported killed in Moscow-occupied Donetsk by Russian state media and confirmed by his battalion

A US citizen known to have fought with pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine between 2014 and 2017 has been killed in Moscow-occupied Donetsk, according to Russian media reports.

Russia-installed authorities in eastern Ukraine had earlier this month reported the American – 64-year-old Russell Bentley – as missing.

“Russell Bentley, known as ‘Texas’, a real American, truly from Texas, was killed in Donetsk,” Margarita Simonyan, head of the pro-Kremlin RT TV channel, said on social media.