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Foreign Affairs

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BootinUp

(50,759 posts)
Wed Dec 10, 2025, 08:42 AM Wednesday

4 Russian Soldiers Sentenced For Killing Of American Fighting For Moscow In Ukraine [View all]

A court in a Russian-controlled part of Ukraine sentenced four Russian soldiers over the death last year of Russell Bentley, a US citizen who as the "Donbas Cowboy" gained notoriety for joining Russia-backed forces in eastern Ukraine.

The court in the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk sentenced two of the soldiers, Major Vitaly Vansyatsky and Lieutenant Andrei Iordanov, to 12 years in a penal colony, while Sergeant Vladislav Agaltsev received an 11-year prison sentence.

A fourth soldier, Vladimir Bazhin, was handed 1 1/2 years for helping cover up Bentley's death.

The four were found guilty of killing Bentley after mistaking him for a US saboteur. Russian authorities said an investigation showed he had been tortured before being killed. His abductors then tried to cover up the death by detonating a car containing his body.

https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-soldiers-sentenced-death-us-born-bentley-ukraine/33616294.html

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