Russia’s Investigative Committee has identified all persons involved in the death of American blogger Russell Bentley, as well as the circumstances of the crimes committed.
“The Main Military Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation has completed the investigation of the criminal case against servicemen of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Vitaly Vansyatsky, Vladislav Agaltsev, Vladimir Bazhin and Andrei Iordanov. Based on the role of each of them, they are accused by a group of persons of committing actions that clearly exceed their powers, using physical violence and torture that negligently resulted in the death of the victim, as well as covering up a particularly serious crime by moving the remains of the deceased to another place,” said the official representative of the Russian Investigative Committee Svetlana Petrenko.
According to the investigation, on April 8, 2024, in Donetsk, servicemen Vansyatsky, Agaltsev and Iordanov used physical violence and torture against Bentley, which led to his death. On the same day, Vansyatsky and Agaltsev blew up a VAZ 2115 car with a TNT bomb in its body. On April 9, 2024, at the direction of Vansyatsky, a serviceman from the same military unit, Bazhin, covered up a particularly serious crime by removing Bentley’s remains from the scene of the incident.
They say the military believed the American was spying on them.
The defendants are currently familiarizing themselves with the materials of the criminal case. Afterwards, the indictment will be submitted for approval and referral to the court.
Recall that Bentley, born in Texas, considered himself a revolutionary, a communist, and constantly fought against official US policy. In the militia of the Donetsk People’s Republic, under the call sign “Texas”, he fought against the kyiv regime since 2014. In Donetsk he got married, bought a house, and even worked for Russian media.
