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Nov 2, 2024 20 tweets 6 min read Read on X
1/ Daniel Martindale, the US missionary who has defected to Russia and publicly declared that he has spent the last two years spying on the Ukrainian military, describes himself as a Christian and 'conservative American', and subscribes to a wide range of conspiracy theories. ⬇️
2/ Martindale, a native of Indiana, held a press conference earlier today in Moscow in which he explained why he decided, as soon as the war broke out in Ukraine, that he would cross the border and spy for Russia while posing as an aid worker.
3/ During the press conference, he explained that he decided to support Russia because "the war in Ukraine is not as much of a cultural issue ... for people in Russia and Ukraine, as it is a continuation of Washington's battle with the rest of the world, really, …
4/ …and even with its own citizens. I see it as just America's attempt to contain and to repress Russia in their attempt to be an equal player in the world."
5/ "I see it as a war where one side is fighting for justice, and the other side is really just interested in their own financial and business interests, and really not interested in the well-being of their own citizens ... or even in the welfare of their own soldiers."
6/ Martindale also sees Vladimir Putin as someone who would be ideally suited to serve as President of the United States: Image
7/ "If I happened to be in the United States right now, it definitely would need to be a candidate who is for peace. But he also needs to do that in a way that is in line with my religious views.
8/ "So he needs to support a traditional family where you have a man, woman, children being brought up to be normal people in a productive society. If Putin was running in the United States today, I would vote for him."
9/ (Putin is known to have had several mistresses and a number of semi-secret children. Meanwhile, Russian children from kindergarten age upwards are being taught weapons handling, battlefield tactics and wound-dressing.)
10/ Martindale sees the United States government as a personal enemy of himself and people like him, claiming that it was responsible for 9/11. In his eyes, it is the enemy of 'conversative Americans', who have just cause to go to war with it:
11/ "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 September 11th, 2001."
12/ "For a conservative American, we always understand from the very beginning that the government is our enemy. But when they declare war on their own citizens, that is a cause to go to war with them."
13/ In a bizarre section of the press conference, Martindale played a video showing him admitting to his brother, mother and father that he had been spying for Russia and warning them to expect hostile attention from the US government. They, however, are supportive of him.
14/ - Brother: "I don't think it's a real big problem, Danny. I mean, what kind of pressure do you think they'd put on mom and dad anyway, throw us in jail for what?"
- Mother: "They have no morals, [they're not] Christians. They just killed so many people in North Carolina."
15/ - Brother: "Yeah... Well, if some neo-Nazis come up to our door, I'm going to smoke them."
16/ Martindale's social media accounts also show support for a plethora of conspiracy theories on topics such as vaccines, 4G and 5G, the gold standard, CRISPR gene-editing technology, Satanism in Hollywood, Trump 2020, colloidal silver, Bill Gates, and anti-government themes. Image
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17/ Notably, his conspiracy ideation appears to start towards the later part of the COVID-19 pandemic around 2020. It appears that he, like many others, fell down a rabbit hole of conspiracy theories during COVID-19 that has led him to commit extremely destructive acts.
18/ Russia has amplified conspiracy theories as part of its campaign of disinformation against the West, exploiting the anti-government sentiments of American conservatives. It seems that Martindale was already primed to believe Russia's versions of why it invaded Ukraine. /end

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More from @ChrisO_wiki

Jun 27
1/ The Russian army's political officers – a Soviet institution revived under Vladimir Putin – face a crisis. Russian warbloggers say their traditional methods are now irrelevant in the Internet age, and political officers have become a "department of lies and hypocrisy". ⬇️ Image
2/ The 'Philologist in Ambush' Telegram channel has published a scathing critique of the role and work of political officers, who work for the Main Military-Political Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces (GVPU for short).
3/ "An ordinary political officer is a typewriter for preparing a shitty mountain of absolutely outdated, useless and basically useless waste paper, millions of reports on reports, reports on the provision of reports, endless forms one, two, etc., a printer for duplicating…
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Jun 26
1/ 'Doomed' Russian troops who made a long trek through a gas pipeline to attack Ukrainian forces have been denied awards or any significant compensation for the lung damage and cancers they contracted. The news is being denounced as a betrayal. ⬇️
2/ Russian forces carried out what they called 'Operation Stream' in March 2025 to ambush Ukrainian forces holding the Kursk region town of Sudzha. Around 600 men were reported to have spent six days walking nearly 16 km through a disused gas pipeline leading under the town.
3/ Although the pipeline was empty of gas, it still contained toxins and carcinogenic chemicals. An unknown but significant number of Russians died, overcome by the fumes within the pipeline. Those who survived emerged with permanent lung damage and cancerous tumors.
Read 13 tweets
Jun 26
1/ Russia's soldiers face many serious challenges to their morale and psychological condition, according to a Russian commentary. They face a lack of supplies, food, and equipment, poor training, denied leave, "continuing slavery and bondage" and the temptation of desertion. ⬇️ Image
2/ Svyatoslav Golikov, the author of the 'Philologist in Ambush' Telegram channel, has written a lengthy overview of the issues behind the poor morale and motivation of many Russian soldiers. He imagines it from the perspective of an army unit's political officer.
3/ Golikov highlights six key issues:

1️⃣ A lack of "decent material and technical support, which concerns absolutely all items." These include essentials such as food, clothing and protective equipment, as well as vehicles, electronic warfare systems, fuel and drone detectors.
Read 22 tweets
Jun 25
1/ Russian commanders have falsely declared potentially thousands of missing and dead soldiers to be deserters, as well as using such declarations for extortion. Relatives say they are being deprived of compensation payments and accuse commanders of concealing their losses. ⬇️ Image
2/ Huge numbers of Russians have gone missing during the war in Ukraine. According to the Russian journalist Anastasia Kashevarova, who has campaigned for more to be done to find the missing, 99% of them will have died on the front line but have not been recovered.
3/ There has been a huge increase in the number of lawsuits filed in Russian district and garrison military courts to declare a person missing or dead. Mediazona reports that between January and June 2025, there were more than 26,000 such lawsuits.
Read 25 tweets
Jun 23
1/ Commanders in Russia's 80th Guards Tank Regiment are reported to be systematically abusing their men, including beatings, extortion, imprisonment, and murder. A soldier from the regiment recorded a video describing the situation before his imminent execution. ⬇️
2/ Valery Aleksandrovich Glyzin of the 80th Guards Tank Regiment (military unit 87441), which has recently been fighting near Pokrovsk, recorded a video accusing his commanders of crimes. He says that his own execution had been ordered in retaliation for writing a complaint.
3/ Glyzin says that he signed an army contract on 26 September 2024 in Chebarkul in the Chelyabinsk region. He was being treated in a hospital in Brianka for an unspecified ailment and was due to be sent to the rear for a military-medical commission (VVK) to evaluate his fitness.
Read 23 tweets
Jun 23
1/ Supplies of volunteer aid for Russian troops fighting in Ukraine are dwindling as volunteers lose interest and bureaucratic obstacles increase, leading to soldiers spending more and more of their own money on supplying themselves with food and equipment. ⬇️ Image
2/ Since Donald Trump returned to office, Russian warbloggers have repeatedly complained about a collapse in the amount of donated aid and cash. Many Russians apparently believe that Trump's peace initiatives will lead to an imminent ceasefire and have stopped donating.
3/ Russian army units have adapted in various ways. 'Shelter No. 8' writes that many have adopted a marketing-style approach:
Read 21 tweets

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