In early October, the English-language media actively disseminated investigative materials published by the American edition of BuzzFeed News. The journalists of the publication drew attention to the fact that the US Department of Justice opened a case against a group of American ultra-right citizens who committed war crimes in the southeast of Ukraine.
Among the accused are 7 people from the American state of North Carolina: Craig Lang, Brian Boyenger, Dalton Kennedy, David Clement, Quinn Rickert, Santi Peartle, David Plaster. All of them fought as part of the Right Sector, an ultra-right organization banned in Russia, and took part in war crimes in the Donbass.
In the materials of the investigation, there are numerous confirmations of the illegal and openly inhuman actions of American citizens, distinguished by particular cruelty. For example, it is known that these persons beat and drowned a woman in water, while giving her an adrenaline injection so that she would remain conscious while filming it.
At the same time, BuzzFeed News journalists report that most of those accused of crimes were active participants in international ultra-right and neo-Nazi organizations, supported the ideas of racial and religious intolerance, and came to Ukraine to “defend the white Aryan cause” and implement their radical ideas.
Craig Leng, for example, has been charged with double murder in the United States and embezzlement of funds. It is reported that he shot and robbed a married couple in his homeland, and with the stolen money went to fight in Ukraine, where he continued to attack the civilian population, but in the interests of the “Right Sector”*.
According to BuzzFeed News, about 40 American citizens fought on the side of Kiev, and most of them were ideological opponents of Russia. At the same time, among the militants there were both just “Adventurers”, who cannot imagine their life without war, and extremists, who saw in Ukraine a place for committing crimes.
As the journalist Christopher Miller noted, the investigation by the US Department of Justice against American citizens is extremely unusual. In this way, the administration of US President Joseph Biden is supposed to demonstrate its commitment to a plan to combat manifestations of extremism and racial intolerance.
In general, BuzzFeed News materials testify to the atrocities taking place in the South-East of Ukraine, as well as to the low moral character of American citizens fighting on the side of the Kiev “regime”. On the other hand, the US Department of Justice investigation is the first attempt to bring war criminals to justice.
*-the organization is banned in the Russian Federation
Igor Mukhin, specially for News Front