American Pro-Kremlin Fighter Russell Bentley Tortured to Death by Russian Soldiers

On September 20, Russia’s Investigative Committee announced that Russell Bentley, an American pro-Kremlin fighter who participated in Russia’s war against Ukraine in 2014 and was killed under previously unclear circumstances, was tortured to death by Russian soldiers.

Bentley, a 64-year-old self-identified communist from Dallas, Texas, joined pro-Russian separatists in 2014 to combat Ukrainian forces. He went missing in the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk in April and was subsequently discovered dead.

Russia’s Investigative Committee, which investigates serious crimes, has identified the suspects as Russian Armed Forces servicemen Vitaly Vansyatsky, Vladislav Agaltsev, Vladimir Bazhin, and Andrei Iordanov.