The Donetsk Garrison Military Court on December 8 convicted four soldiers in the death of Russell Bonner Bentley III, a 64-year-old American who moved to Donbass in 2014. Major Vitaly Vansyatsky and Lieutenant Andrei Iordanov received 12-year sentences, while Sergeant Vladislav Agaltsev was sentenced to 11 years. The court stripped all three of their military ranks. A fourth soldier, Vladimir Bashin, received a 1.5-year sentence for concealing the crime.

Russell Bonner Bentley III in an image posted on social media platform X on 4/4/2024. Photo: X/Russell Bentley

Bentley, a self-proclaimed "Donbass Cowboy", fought for Russia's Vostok battalion in Donetsk for three years before becoming a naturalized Russian citizen in 2020. He frequently posted on social media, praising Russian soldiers and claiming to be the only American fighting for Russia.

Bentley went missing in April 2024 after surveying the scene of a shelling incident in central Donetsk. Two soldiers discovered him preparing to film the site. They suspected he was an American spy. When asked for identification, Bentley explained he worked for Russia's state news agency, Sputnik.

The soldiers took Bentley to their headquarters, detaining, beating, and torturing him to death. They then placed his body in a car and detonated it, staging a scene to resemble a shelling incident. The following day, two of the soldiers instructed the fourth soldier to dispose of the body. The Russian Investigative Committee reported that all four soldiers pleaded guilty and expressed remorse for their actions.

The court ordered 65,000 USD in compensation for Bentley's wife, Lyudmila Bentley, a local English teacher. The couple married in 2017.

Hong Hanh (According to Moscow Times)