1/ The killers of a pro-Russian American are reportedly to be pardoned and sent to fight in Ukraine. 'Donbass Cowboy' Russell Bentley died under torture, reportedly after being electrocuted, and was subsequently blown into pieces in an attempt to cover up the killing. ⬇️
2/ Bentley was a communist activist and convicted marijuana smuggler from Texas who travelled to the occupied Donbas region of Ukraine in 2014 to fight in a pro-Russian militia. He married a local woman, settled in Donetsk city, and became a warblogger after being demobilised.
3/ He was abducted on 8 April 2024 by soldiers of the 5th Motorised Rifle Brigade of the 'Donetsk People's Republic' after being suspected of spying on the aftermath of a Ukrainian artillery strike. The men took him to a nearby abandoned mine repurposed as a torture centre.
4/ Russian sources say he was beaten and then electocuted, likely through the use of a Soviet TA-57 field telephone, which can generate up to 80V. Russian security forces are known to use it as a torture device, attaching it to the victim's genitals for maximum effect.
5/ After his death, his body was put into a car and blown into pieces by one of his killers using a block of high explosive. A few fragments were later recovered, which his widow plans to use to conduct a largely symbolic funeral.
6/ Unusually for such cases, a proper investigation was carried out after his former militia unit, the Vostok Battalion, reported his death. Four men were arrested and charged in September 2024 in relation to his death and the destruction of his body.
7/ This was due largely to an energetic campaign carried out by his widow Ludmilla and several high-profile Russian warbloggers. Now, however, Ludmilla says that the legal process has been suspended and the culprits – who have admitted their crime – are to be released.
8/ On Bentley's former Telegram channel, Ludmilla writes: "We're now at a point that's very similar to when I appealed to the public about the lawlessness that was taking place,…
9/ …when investigators from the Russian Military Investigative Committee lied to me and tried to cover up the case, thus forcing me to appeal directly to Vladimir Putin.
10/ "Over the past couple of days, people have started writing me private messages asking how things are going with the appellate court verdict that came into force on 9th June, and when the funeral will be held for the small remains of Russell that remained from the impact…
11/ …of the explosion and that the criminals didn't remove, like the main remains, so that "there would be no body and, therefore, no case"...
12/ "I filed a response to the appeal of the Russian Ministry of Defence on 1 July 2026, submitted it to the court, and yesterday I called to find out when the appeal hearing on the Ministry of Defence's complaint would be again, and I was told that the documents…
13/ …were not submitted for appeal, since the Donetsk Garrison Military Court received a petition to send Vansyatsky, Agaltsev, and Iordanov to the Special Military Operation, and the court issued a ruling suspending the criminal case!!!!!!!!
14/ "How can this be, if my lawyer and I heard with our own ears the judge's words on 9 June that the sentence had come into force?!!!
15/ "What kind of Special Military Operation is this, if they, armed with the power of weapons, beat to death a civilian tied up with a bag over his head, on which they also jumped?
16/ "What kind of Special Military Operation is this, if the Ministry of Defence gave the drone operator a TNT block, and he gave it to Vansyatsky, and he and Agaltsev blew up Russell's body, instead of handing it over to me so I could say goodbye and bury him.
17/ "Humanely?! What kind of Special Military Operation is this, if the Russian Ministry of Defence issued them automatic rifles and they, military officers, fired right next to the head of a completely innocent man lying tied up on the ground?!
18/ "They are criminals who must face the punishment announced for each of them, in accordance with the verdict that came into force on 9th June.
I learned that the petition to send them to the Special Military Operation came from the selection centre.
19/ "I understand that this is the Ministry of Defence's plan – to take them away, and accordingly suspend the case (though how can they suspend it if the verdict has already come into force?!), and not to give me Russell's things, including his documents from the 2014 militia,…
20/ …his accreditation, his military ID, and all the other documents he had with him on 8th April, his diving watch, his icon, and my photo next to his mother's.😭😭😭, not to issue me a writ of execution is to drive me into the grave with all these years of torture.
21/ "they won't give me my husband's things back.😭;
after 9th June, I already bothered people in Moscow and Donetsk about the farewell and funeral - and now everything is frozen😭
22/ "I'm not being issued a writ of execution; instead of restoring my lost health and doing what I can for our Victory, my health and all my vital energy are being wasted fighting for something that should have already been legally ended. Maybe this is being done on purpose?"
Sources:
🔹 t.me/TXDPR/17819
🔹 t.me/TXDPR/17820
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