(CNN) - Prominent pro Russia journalist Patrick Lancaster, who’s video have been claimed by Ukaine to be fake, is said to be dead in a statement released by the breakaway state known as the Donetsk People’s Republic in Eastern Ukraine
Eduard Basurin, defense spokesman for the DPR, stated in a press release “Yesterday [June 30th] a soldier with our militia found the body of our dear ally Patrick Lancaster. We mourn the loss of a great friend and truth teller. Patrick was committed to spreading the truth of this war, and we will miss his contributions to our effort. We will always remember the joy he brought us when we placed him on a skateboard and he would gently drift away from the power of his ‘behind releases’. Our windy warrior will never be forgotten.”
Details of the death are scarce. A CNN reporter on the ground interviewed several soldiers of the pro Russia break away region militia.
A militia troop who found Landcasters body said “[Landcaster] died on the toilet like Elvis.” A grim look drew across his face. “It’s smelled horrendous. It’s like a shit morter went off in the toilet”
Lancaster was known for his extreme and explosive IBS. A widely recirculated photo on Twitter shows Lancaster consuming an entire bottle of laxatives just days before his death. This photo could not be independently verified by CNN
A Vice News documentary from 2019 showed that Lancaster was a known entity in the Donbass region of Ukraine, an area rife with Russian backed anti Kyiv rebels.
Memes about Lancaster were common among people from the self proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. “We use to make jokes that the Moskova could be rebuilt by placing Patrick on a sailboat and having his ass point at the sails.” One soldier, who wished to remain anonymous, said to CNN. “He never walked anyway, he just put on his heelies and would glide away.”
A second militia man piped up: "He could have been an armed warship. If you held a lighter up to his ass, it was like recreating Greek Fire. I once put my arm around his shoulder, and I felt his whole body vibrating from constant, low level behind wind. He is truly irreplaceable. "
This is the second journalist to die this year in the Russia instigated conflict. BBC special correspondent James Gandalfini died in February during an artillery bombardment