1/ One of the suspects in the murder by torture of the so-called "Donbas Cowboy", self-proclaimed communist and Texan Russell Bentley, has been released. His widow Ludmilla warns that people might think that "the Russian army is a bunch of criminals who do whatever they want". ⬇️
2/ According to Ludmilla, one of the defendants in the case who is accused of concealing a particularly serious crime has been released from custody, while the other three remain in detention. The man is accused of ensuring that "as little as possible was left of Russell".
3/ Bentley travelled to Donetsk in 2014 to fight on the Russian side. He had previously been a marijuana activist and smuggler in the US, as well as a communist activist. After spending several years with a volunteer battalion, he married Ludmilla and became a video blogger. 
4/ In April 2024, he was kidnapped by local soldiers after videoing the aftermath of Ukrainian shelling. Apparently believing he was a spy, they reportedly tortured him to death in an old mine and disposed of the body.
https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1824501968821256208
5/ Ludmilla has been campaigning for justice to be done, in an effort backed by the prominent Russian warblogger WarGonzo (Semyon Pegov). She says that the four suspects, all from the Donetsk People's Republic's 5th Motorised Rifle Brigade, have admitted their guilt.
6/ She says that the man who was released "allegedly did not personally use violence against Russell, but the next day he did everything to ensure that as little as possible was left of Russell", whose body has not been recovered.
7/ Ludmilla refers to ongoing "struggles" by the suspects' relatives to free them – they have published a video complaining about political interference. Similar murders are rarely investigated, but in this case Russian warbloggers (notably WarGonzo) have exerted pressure.
8/ She cautions that the lack of information released by the authorities has prompted unhelpful narratives by those who "applaud those people who closed Russell's mouth forever". "We must not give food for thought. We must tell the truth and show what is happening," she says.
9/ The WarGonzo interviewer comments: "Many believe that since servicemen are involved in the case, the fact that they appear as criminals casts a shadow over the entire Russian army." Ludmilla Bentley agrees: "No, of course, there must be a law."
10/ She comments: "The Brigade is served by decent people, but those who actually committed the crime must be punished. Because there should be no reason to think that the Russian army is a bunch of criminals who do whatever they want." /end
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