Russia's Investigative Committee said today that American citizen Russell Bentley, who died in April in eastern Ukraine, was tortured and killed by servicemen of the Russian army, France Press reported, BTA reported.
Russell Bentley, also known as "Texas" or "The Cowboy of Donbas", has died in Donetsk, a large eastern city controlled by the Russian army.
The Texas-born, 64-year-old former forester joined the Moscow-led pro-Russian separatists in 2014, who had then just come into conflict with Ukrainian forces. Bentley fought alongside them until 2017 and then remained in eastern Ukraine, putting himself at the service of Russia's state media, notably Sputnik, until his disappearance in early April this year year. Then, according to Russian television, the American went to help the victims of a bombing.
According to the investigation by the Investigative Committee of Russia, he was killed by three Russian servicemen and a fourth serviceman helped hide his body. Investigators have not indicated what the probable motive was for the murder.