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From Missionary to Russian Citizen: US Man Who Spied on Ukraine Gets Putin’s Stamp of Approval
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![Photo of Vlad Litnarovych]( "Photo of Vlad Litnarovych")
Daniel Martindale, an American citizen who posed as a missionary while allegedly spying on Ukrainian military positions near Vuhledar, has been granted Russian citizenship, Denis Pushilin, head of the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic,” confirmed on July 15.
Pushilin described the move as “the highest form of state gratitude, a symbol of special trust and respect.” Martindale reportedly received his passport at the “DPR’s” office in Moscow.
According to Ukrainian journalist investigators from Telebachennya Toronto and open-source researchers, Martindale lived for nearly two years in the village of Bohoyavlenka near Vuhledar, presenting himself as a Christian humanitarian while collecting intelligence on Ukrainian troop movements and infrastructure.
He is now living under tight surveillance in Moscow, where he told The Wall Street Journal, “I’m not a 100% free person.”
From missionary to spy
Martindale claims he contacted the FSB on his own initiative, asking them to help him reach Russian-occupied Donetsk, a goal he said he had nurtured even before Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Russian forces eventually moved him from Bohoyavlenka to the rear in fall 2024 after occupying the area.
During an interview with Russian propagandists, Martindale said he had crossed into Ukraine by bicycle shortly after the war began, telling locals he was a Christian missionary.
He lived in an abandoned house and, while feigning solidarity with Ukrainian medics, secretly passed information to Russian forces. At one point, he attempted to build a homemade explosive to destroy a US-made artillery system but accidentally detonated it, setting his house on fire.
He told WSJ he grew up in a family of seven children in New York and Indiana, where his parents taught them to distrust the US government, which they believed was behind the 9/11 attacks.
The family later moved to rural China, near the Russian border, where they befriended a man who claimed to be a Russian military intelligence officer. That man showed them abandoned Soviet farms near Vladivostok, sparking what Martindale described as a “deep attraction to Russia.”
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Martindale moved to the Russian Far East in 2018 to study Russian and teach English in Vladivostok. He was deported in 2019 for violating labor laws. Despite this, he returned to the region in 2022 to join the Russian war effort, eventually settling in Bohoyavlenka under false pretenses.
Traces of Russian recruitment
Journalists from Telebachennya Toronto uncovered evidence suggesting that Martindale may have been recruited by Russian military intelligence between 2016 and 2019. During that period, he actively visited Russia, sharing photos from Magadan, Vladivostok, and Primorsky Krai on social media. He also published an image of a student ID card from a Russian university.
Using facial recognition tools, investigators linked Martindale’s social media connections to Vladislav Yuryevich Hnitiev, a 43-year-old man from Khabarovsk who lists himself as a graduate of the Alexander Nevsky Military University, with a specialty in “Foreign Military Intelligence.” Hnitiev is believed to live on a base belonging to a GRU unit that specializes in psychological operations.
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Journalists also found that Hnitiev’s phone number was saved as a “bookkeeper” for another officer at the same GRU unit—likely a cover for his commanding officer, according to investigative norms seen in previous Russian military leaks.
A photo of Hnitiev in uniform dated around 2018 shows him wearing the insignia of a captain. Publicly available social media data suggest he and Martindale were in contact via fitness app Strava as early as 2019.
A Family of extremists
Martindale’s radical worldview appears to be shared by his family. His father and brother support his actions and believe the US government is waging a war against its own people.
At a press conference in Moscow, Martindale declared, “Since 2005, I have considered the US government my personal enemy. They’re responsible for the 9/11 attacks.”
His Instagram account features anti-vaccine conspiracy theories and claims that Bill Gates is trying to eliminate the “excess God genes” in people. He also called the COVID-19 pandemic a global hoax.
Earlier, Russian leader Vladimir Putin awarded the Order of Courage to Anna and Artem Dultsev, who were convicted of espionage in Slovenia and returned to Russia as part of a prisoner exchange.
