MOSCOW: A court in Russian-controlled Ukraine sentenced four Russian soldiers to jail on Monday for the killing of an American communist who had fought with pro-Moscow forces since 2014.
Moscow rarely punishes its soldiers in Ukraine for committing crimes, portraying them as national heroes at home.
The court in Russian-held Donetsk found the soldiers guilty of beating Russell Bentley, 64, to death in April 2024, after they mistook him for a US saboteur.
They then put his body in the back of a car and blew it up.
Bentley — known as “Texas” — was a local celebrity in the city of Donetsk, where he lived, and his disappearance sparked outrage.
The self-styled communist often made social media clips backing Moscow’s Ukraine campaign, produced content for Russia’s state-backed media and had fought alongside pro-Russian separatists since 2014.
Two of the soldiers — Major Vitaly Vansyatsky and Lt. Andrei Iordanov — were sentenced to 12 years in a penal colony and stripped of their military titles. Sergeant Vladislav Agaltsev was handed 11 years while another soldier was given 1.5 years for “concealing crimes.”
The court said the troops did not know Bentley and detained him as he prepared to film the consequences of a Ukrainian strike, thinking he was a spy.
It said the soldiers “reported to their military unit command on the discovery of a saboteur,” before putting him in a car with a bag on his head, where they “beat and tortured” him to “get a confession” — ultimately killing him.
They then put his body in the trunk and blew up the car, the court said.
Russian soldiers in Ukraine have long been accused by Kyiv and international rights groups of torturing captives.
Bentley — who served in the US army in his youth — had been granted Russian nationality and portrayed himself as the only American fighting for Moscow.
In 2022, he told Newsweek that he had several times been “within seconds or inches of death” but added that: “I believe in guardian angels because of how lucky I’ve been here.”
Russia jails soldiers who killed pro-Kremlin American
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Russia jails soldiers who killed pro-Kremlin American
- Court in Russian-held Donetsk found the soldiers guilty of beating Russell Bentley, 64, to death in April 2024, after they mistook him for a US saboteur
- Bentley — who served in the US army in his youth — had been granted Russian nationality and portrayed himself as the only American fighting for Moscow
No sign Iran’s nuclear sites were hit, IAEA says, but Iran alleges one was
VIENNA: The UN nuclear watchdog has no indication Israeli and US attacks on Iran have hit any nuclear facilities, its chief Rafael Grossi told the agency’s Board of Governors on Monday, moments before Iran’s envoy said one was targeted a day earlier.
Iran’s nuclear program has been among the reasons Israel and the US have given for the attacks, alleging Iran was getting too close to being able to eventually make an atom bomb.
At the same time, what remains of Iran’s atomic facilities after the two militaries attacked them in June appears to have been largely spared in this campaign so far.
“We have no indication that any of the nuclear installations ... have been damaged or hit,” International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said in a statement to a meeting of his agency’s 35-nation Board of Governors.
What that assessment was based on is unclear, since he also said his agency had not been able to reach its counterparts in Iran. Tehran has not let the IAEA return to its bombed facilities since they were attacked in June.
“Efforts to contact the Iranian nuclear regulatory authorities ... continue, with no response so far. We hope this indispensable channel of communication can be re-established as soon as possible,” he said.
Moments later, Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA, Reza Najafi, told reporters outside the closed-door meeting that the sprawling nuclear complex at Natanz had been attacked.
Natanz housed two uranium-enrichment plants that were attacked in June — an above-ground one that the IAEA says was destroyed and an underground one that was at least badly damaged, among other facilities.
“Again they attacked Iran’s peaceful, safeguarded nuclear facilities yesterday,” Najafi said. Asked by Reuters which facilities were hit, he replied: “Natanz” and left.
