‘One of us’: American citizen spying in Ukraine gets citizenship in Russia; To be a Russian citizen was a ‘dream’

Officials on Tuesday announced that Russian citizenship has been provided to an American citizen providing intelligence on Ukrainian soldiers to support Russia’s military operations. Daniel Martindel spent two years in Ukraine after the introduction of Russia’s invasion, according to Russia’s state media, passing with the coordinates of military sites for Russian intelligence services.Dennis Pushilyn said, “The passport of a Russian Federation’s citizen was given to Daniel Martindel, by the decree of our President Vladimir Putin,” Dennis Pushilin said. Martindel received his passport at a function in Moscow by internal ministry officials, according to a video published by Pushilin and State Media. Pushilin said that Martindel, with her loyalty and actions, had “long proven that she is one of us.”He said, “He spent more than two years in the area under enemy control. And not only he survived – he helped. He supported our people, passed on important information for our special services, putting their lives at risk,” he said.Martindel said that becoming a Russian citizen was a “dream” for him and thanked Russia for “accepting”. “Russia is not only my home, but my family,” he said in Russian. Two years after spying on Ukraine, Daniel Martindel was taken out, described by Pushilin as a “complex withdrawal operation”, inspired by increasing concerns in Moscow that his life would be at risk if he stayed in the country.Russian state media reported that security forces brought Martindel to Russia in November 2024, where they later presented their citizenship. “Namaste, I am a Daniel Martindel, the man who was risked by Russian soldiers to get out of the village where I was living for two years.” A telegram account that claimed that Martindel posted the same month.During the time, Martindel informed the Russian supporters bloggers that Russia had arrived in Ukraine shortly before Russia launched its aggressive launch in the hope of arriving in Russia’s territory. Martindel told the bloggers that he arrived at his initiative for Russian intelligence services and instructed to travel to the city of Wuhaldar and wait for the Russian forces to arrive.He said that he lived in the city, presented as a missionary until a collapse of 2024, when Russian soldiers caught it after a long fight reported by CBS News. Martindel was picked up by missionary parents on fields in New York and Indiana, which later moved to rural China. During its time, a small journey across the border in the Far East of Russia, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal, created its interest in the country.In 2018, he moved to Vladivostoc where he studied Russian and taught English, but was deported a year later to violate labor laws from the country.