The Russian Investigative Committee has revealed details of the murder of American war correspondent Russell Bentley, also known by the call sign "Texas". According to the investigation, the crime was committed on April 8, 2024 in Donetsk by a group of servicemen, including Vitaly Vansyatsky, Vladislav Agaltsev and Andrey Iordanov. That day, they brutally beat and tortured 64-year-old Bentley, which led to his death.

After the murder, Vansyatsky and Agaltsev decided to hide the traces of the crime by blowing up a VAZ 2115 car, in which Bentley's body was located. Later, on April 9, a serviceman from the same unit, Bazhin, on Vansyatsky's instructions, moved the remains of the murdered man from the scene of the crime, trying to hide the fact of the murder.

Depending on their participation, the servicemen are charged under several articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, including abuse of office, torture and violence resulting in death, and concealment of a particularly serious crime. The Investigative Committee classifies their actions under Part 5 of Article 286, paragraph "a" of Part 2 of Article 244, and Part 4 of Article 33 and Part 2 of Article 316 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Russell Bentley, born in Texas, USA, worked as a logger in his home state for a long time before he decided to change his life dramatically. Having converted to Orthodoxy, he joined the militia of the Donetsk People's Republic in 2014, taking part in military operations on the side of the DPR. Due to his age, he soon left the front, but remained in Russia, married a Russian language teacher and began collaborating with state-run publications as a war correspondent.

In addition to his journalistic work, Bentley actively helped the victims and wounded in the conflict zone. On April 8, 2024, he went missing during the shelling of Donetsk, having gone to help the victims. His car was later found with a broken phone, baseball cap and glasses, but Bentley himself was not there.