This just in: https://sledcom.ru/news/item/1915443/

“The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation has identified all persons involved in the death of Russell Bentley and the circumstances of the crimes committed. The Main Military Investigative Directorate 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 Iordan. Depending on the role of each, they are accused of committing by a group of persons actions clearly beyond the scope of their authority, the use of physical violence and torture that resulted in the death of the victim through negligence, as well as concealing a particularly serious crime by moving the remains of the deceased to another location (Part 5 of Article 286 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, paragraph “a” of Part 2 of Article 244 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Part 4 of Article 33 and Part 2 of Article 316 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

“According to the investigation, on April 8, 2024, in the city of Donetsk, servicemen Vansyatsky, Agaltsev and Iordanov used physical violence and torture against him, resulting in his death. On the same day, Vansyatsky and Agaltsev blew up a VAZ 2115 car with his body with a TNT block. On April 9, 2024, on Vansyatsky’s instructions, a serviceman from the same military unit, Bazhin, committed concealment of a particularly serious crime by moving Bentley’s remains from the scene of the incident.

“The accused are currently familiarizing themselves with the materials of the criminal case. Subsequently, it will be submitted for approval of the indictment and sent to court.”

The version of events that makes the most sense is this one: “Bentley was detained while filming the aftermath of a Ukrainian shelling of a military unit, and was mistaken for a spy.”

I wasn’t there, so let’s imagine the scene: all sorts of wreckage and some dead bodies scattered about, and here’s this strange character in a funny hat, clearly not a local, taking photographs. Could he be a spy? Upon casual interrogation, it turned out that he spoke a crazy mix of broken Russian, broken Ukrainian and accented English (he was a Texan). Perhaps he failed to mention who specifically authorized him to take these sensitive pictures or started talking about his rights (as Americans sometimes do). When the Russian servicemen tried to knock some sense into him, he died. Then they freaked out and tried to destroy, then hide, his body, and failed.

Bentley was, of all things, a true believer who joined a fight that was not his fight. Yes it was the Washingtonians who fomented and perpetuate the conflict between Russia and the Ukraine, and he happened to be an American, but his fight should have been with Washington, not with the Ukraine (futile though that would have been).

Imagine the situation from a Russian perspective: some Americans set your house on fire and as you try to put out the fire and evacuate the people trapped inside a linguistically challenged American rushes in to help… by taking pictures. “What gives? Go set your own house on fire, you American bastard!” would be a reasonable reaction, would it not? But there would be no time to explain, and so Bentley would persist in his virtuous fancy. Here’s a quote of him that has surfaced:

“‘I hate fascism,’ [Bentley] explained in a mix of Russian-English-Ukrainian, patting his cap with a star. ‘My hero is Che Guevara, and modern fascism is the policy of the United States. From the very beginning of the Maidan, I never doubted for a second that these were criminal machinations of the American government. And then I saw photos on the Internet from Lugansk after shelling by the Ukrainian army. A woman was lying there. Without legs, bleeding… The photographer captured her a minute or two before her death. Her gaze was directed at the lens, straight at me. It was as if she was begging for help, screaming: What are you doing?! At that moment, I realized that I would go at any cost.”

I crossed paths with Bentley exactly once. We both appeared on a podcast recorded by a South African blogger. Bently wasn’t shy about volunteering personal information about himself. He was from a very rich Texan family and gave the impression of being able to do just about anything he wanted to with his time and money.

Thinking to myself, I identified Bentley as someone who believed himself to be a magic elf. In Tolkien’s books, elves are immortal, immune to all diseases, and they can recover from wounds which would normally kill a man. People who fancy themselves as being elves bravely march into battle, thinking that they are invincible, and they are often sadly surprised to find that they are as vulnerable as the rest and perhaps even more so. Making the situation worse, they do this as publicly as possible, drawing attention to themselves.

Bentley was not alone in having this “elf” issue. There is another personage that comes to mind: Gonzalo Lira. This elf thought it would be reasonable to hole up in an apartment in Kharkov, a large Russian city under Kiev regime control (for now), and to broadcast highly negative things about the Kiev regime on his YouTube channel. When the Ukrainian authorities (such as they are) gently warned him to cut it out and to remain in Kiev-held territory in the meantime, he bravely podcasted his motorcycle ride across the Ukraine and was arrested while trying to cross the border. He then died in jail due to regular beatings and a lack of medical treatment. American officialdom did not so much as lift a finger to help him: “A Chilean-American dual citizen caught for speaking out against the Ukraine on Ukrainian soil? Come on!” Now, what kind of treatment did Gonzalo Lira think he was going to get? Perhaps he didn’t think about that at all, thinking that he was an elf.

Another character that shows some elfin traits is the former nonexistent Iraqi WMD inspector Scott Ritter. He likewise spoke out against the Kiev regime from his home in the US. Then he tried to fly to Russia to attend the St. Petersburg International Economics Conference — and federal agents took away his passport right at the airport. He continued to speak out against the Kiev regime, and federal agents searched his house. He continues to speak out against the Kiev regime… Does Scott Ritter think he is an elf?

Might you perhaps fancy yourself as an elf yourself? If so, the following message is for you:

“Dear Westerners! You do not live in a democracy, or a free country and do not have any rights, human or otherwise. The people in power in your land can do with you pretty much as they please, up to and including murdering you and your families, castrating your children, shooting your pets or locking you up for life for some thought crime. The only way you can find safety from them is by moving to a non extradition country and obtaining permanent residency or citizenship there. By remaining anywhere else, you give the Washingtonians tacit consent to do with you as they please. If you do move to a non extradition country, you then would have to remain obscure and politically passive, for reasons I find much too obvious to have to explain.”