Pro‑Russian American blogger murdered: Russian soldiers face trial
Pro-Russian blogger Russell Bentley was brutally raped and murdered in Donetsk in April of this year. According to "Belsat," the four Russian soldiers responsible for this crime will soon stand trial to answer for their actions.
American blogger with pro-Russian views, Russell Bentley, also known by the pseudonym "Texas", was brutally raped and murdered in April of this year in Donetsk. Bentley, who publicly supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine, was an active war blogger, regularly posting content supporting the actions of Russian armed forces.
According to the "Belsat" portal, on 8 April Bentley was recording the passage of Russian military equipment through Donetsk when he was stopped by soldiers of the 5th Armoured Brigade. According to information from a person close to the leader of the unrecognised Donetsk People's Republic, the soldiers accused him of collaborating with the Ukrainian rocket artillery, allegedly pointing out targets for them in Donetsk.
As a result, Bentley was reportedly subjected to torture, brutally sexually abused, and then murdered by Russian soldiers.
They killed an American. Russians will stand trial
According to information provided by "Belsat," the Russian Investigative Committee established the identities of all four individuals involved in the murder of Russell Bentley and the details of the crimes they committed.
"The Main Military Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee completed the investigation of the criminal case against the soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Vitaliy Vansyatskiy, Vladislav Agaltsev, Vladimir Bazhin, and Andrei Jordanov," the statement said.
The soldiers were charged with gross abuse of power, use of physical violence and torture, which led to the victim's death. Additionally, they were accused of attempting to hide the body. According to the "Belsat" portal, the Investigative Committee revealed that the perpetrators attempted to cover up the crime by blowing up a Lada Samara car in which they had earlier placed the American's body. Subsequently, one of the soldiers, Bazhin, took further steps to hide the remains.
Who was Russell Bentley?
Pro-Russian American Russell Bentley Bonner, born in Texas in 1960, initially worked in the USA as a lumberjack. However, in 2014, influenced by media reports of alleged crimes committed by Ukrainians, he decided to leave the United States and move to Donetsk.
According to "Belsat, he was baptised in the Orthodox Church, married a Russian woman and joined the pro-Russian separatists. He declared that he wanted to fight against Ukraine.
During the Donbas conflict, he served several months as a grenade launcher operator in the so-called Armed Forces of Novorossiya. After this period, he became involved in propaganda activities, and his last publications appeared on the pro-Russian portal Sputnik.
