Russian investigators have opened a criminal case against the founder of US private military group FOG, Derrick Bales, who is accused in absentia of committing a terrorist attack in the Kursk Region, FOG mercenary activities and murder, the Russian Investigative Committee told Sputnik on Saturday.
"US citizen Derrick Bales is accused in absentia of committing a terrorist act, mercenary activity, murder and attempted murder of two or more persons, as well as persons engaged in official activities, committed by an organized group, in a generally dangerous way motivated by political and ideological hatred, illegal crossing of the state border, encroachment on the life of a law enforcement officer, the use of violence in relation to an authority representative, and of committing a number of other crimes," the committee said in a statement.
Bales personally partook in the Ukraine conflict as a FOG mercenary on the Russian territory, the investigators said, adding that the defendant illegally crossed the Russian border in August and invaded the Kursk Region to intimidate the local residents, caused property damage, destabilized the activities of the authorities, and committed crimes aimed at killing and attempted murder of the civilians.