A U.S. Navy veteran unmasked in April as the person posting as “Donbass Devushka” on social media platforms has resumed her pro-Putin posting.
Sarah Bils, 37, was an Aviation Electronics Technician 2nd Class (an E-5 enlisted rank), while serving in the U.S. Navy, according to a report from USNI News.
She was last stationed at the Naval Air Station on Whidbey Island, Washington, according to the report.
The Department of Justice began investigating Bils in April for her role in social media accounts that posted a series of leaked Pentagon documents, two U.S. defense officials told USNI News at the time.
Bils is an administrator for the Donbass Devushka properties, which is now a network of 15 people, she told The Wall Street Journal.
It’s unclear if Bils, who had a security clearance during her Navy career, used it to access classified documents.
Donbass is a contested region in eastern Ukraine and the Devushka is the Russian word for “young lady,” the report added.
The former U.S. Navy AT2 has resumed her pro-Putin digital campaigns, despite the DOJ investigation, the Daily Mail reported.
Bils, originally from New Jersey, had been under scrutiny for posting leaked Pentagon intelligence files related to Ukraine, the report noted.
After her identity was exposed, major tech platforms, including Twitter and YouTube, suspended her accounts.
However, in July, Bils reinitiated her pro-Putin endeavors under the banner “DD Geopolitics” where she and her co-hosts frequently criticize the U.S.
This move followed a 10-month examination of her online actions by the pro-Kyiv open-source intelligence group “The UnIntelligence Agency.”
Bils’ new venture has already attracted more than 200,000 followers on platforms like X, YouTube and Telegram, according to the Daily Mail report.
Among her guests are prominent figures like Moscow’s U.N. envoy and Alexander Dugin, a political philosopher often referred to as the Russian president’s foreign policy “brain.”
“Donbass Devuskha hasn’t pulled a disappearing act, she’s just had a fabulous makeover,” Bils wrote earlier this summer. “Rest assured the same bunch of weirdos is still running the show behind the scenes.”
She criticized the U.S. in a rant on September 4 for “constant meddling” and accused it of instigating the ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
She further claimed the U.S. and its allies “manufactured” two revolutions in Ukraine, a statement that has been widely debunked.
Earlier this year, the DOJ began investigating Bils when she shared classified documents about U.S. arms shipments to Ukraine.
These confidential papers were supposedly first leaked on Discord by Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old Air National Guardsman. Bils, who had security clearance during her Navy tenure, denied any involvement with Teixeira.
“I didn’t post the Pentagon leaks,” Bils responded to the Daily Mail. “Do not write about me. Leave me and my family alone.”
Bils claims she has transferred ownership of her operation, which she describes as a nonprofit.
However, since her platform’s relaunch, she has consistently echoed Kremlin viewpoints, urging followers to support the Russian military and the Wagner militia.
Pekka Kallioniemi, a researcher specializing in Russian disinformation at the University of Tampere in Finland, expressed surprise at how quickly Bils resumed her pro-Kremlin activities after the DOJ’s investigation began.
He commented on the apparent lack of FBI intervention, suggesting that they might be overlooking the online actions of individuals seemingly working against American interests.
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