I Owe Russia Nothing.
If you browse Russian state channels, you may come across an interview I gave to Maria Butina, a member of the ruling party and the Duma. I understand how this looks, and I accept responsibility for the optics.
My policy has been to give respectful interviews when the subject is war crimes, including those linked to Chosen Company. The Russian government disgusts me in every sense, but it remains a regional power. Its troops were summarily executed by members of Chosen Company, and I am a witness to that. My testimony matters.
Context is important. The discussions for this interview began in April, when peace negotiations still seemed possible. I assumed the release would be immediate. It was not. As the war dragged on, it became clear that this conflict would not be resolved at a negotiating table but through exhaustion on the battlefield. In that light, I now see the interview as a mistake, and I regret it.
None of this changes who I am or what I stand for. People can vilify me—that is nothing new. I have received no favors, no financial support, and no material aid from the Russian Federation. I do not need it. I have a book deal underway that can provide me with the success I need. And I am a wanted fugitive in Russia, sentenced to fourteen years of hard labor on charges of “mercenarism.”
I continue to donate to Ukrainian groups and fighters at the front. I provided drone intelligence while serving in the International Legion, which supported Ukrainian operations in Kharkiv. I also served as an infantryman in the Norman Brigade. I have played my part, imperfectly, in the fight against Russia. I expect to live most of my life abroad with the knowledge that Russia or its proxies may try to harm me. That is reality, and I accept it.
Russia has tried to coerce me into defection. I never trusted them. Even if I were inclined to abandon my life and step into their hands, I know exactly where I would end up: in a gulag. During the interview, Maria Butina asked if I wanted to request mercy from Russia. My answer was no, and it remains no.
I expect no mercy from Russia. What I expect, and what I demand, is a legitimate law enforcement investigation into what happened with Chosen Company. Once this matter is addressed, I will have no further comment. This crime is one among many in this war, where the Russian Federation has committed the majority of atrocities, though abuses have occurred on our side as well. Accountability matters. Unfortunately, accountability will not come from Ukraine itself, so I will continue to press for it in whatever space is available. At the time of this interview, I was not writing for SOFREP or Visegrad, nor represented by a literary agency. If the circumstances had been different, I would never have agreed to speak with Russian propagandists about this case, as I had assumed my public outreach capabilities at that time were muted.
Russia will not break me. My loyalty was never, and will never be, to anything other than the greatest country on earth: the United States of America. My salute goes to the men fighting at the front. I hope the money I have donated helped turn Russian invaders into fertilizer in Ukrainian soil.