US soldier captured during trip to Russia: “Robbered his Russian girlfriend”

An American soldier is in jail in eastern Russia. The US military has announced this. The soldier would be accused of robbing his Russian girlfriend.

Source: Reuters, Bloomberg, NBC News

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“On May 2, 2024, Russian authorities arrested a U.S. soldier in Vladivostok, Russia, on charges of criminal misconduct,” the military said Monday. Moscow informed the US State Department in accordance with the Vienna Treaty, it said. The State Department notified his family and is providing consular support, said Army spokesperson Cynthia O. Smith. The military declined to reveal more details “due to the sensitivity of the matter.”

Several American officials did speak anonymously to the press and said the soldier was stationed in South Korea. Sergeant Gordon Black (34) is said to have completed his mission there and will soon be transferred to Texas, NBC News writes. Before returning to the US, he allegedly traveled to Vladivostok without permission from his superiors to visit a woman with whom he was in a relationship. According to US officials, he is in custody accused of robbing a woman.

The Russian daily Izvestia writes, based on an anonymous source, that the sergeant had met a woman from Vladivostok via the internet. According to the newspaper, the couple lived together for a while, but he beat her and stole 200,000 rubles (about 2,000 euros) from her.

“Americans must leave Russia”

A US State Department spokesperson would only confirm that “an American citizen has been captured in Russia.” “We reiterate our strong warnings about the danger to American citizens in the Russian Federation. U.S. citizens living or traveling in Russia should leave immediately, as stated in our travel advisory for Russia.”

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters at the White House that the administration is aware of the soldier’s detention.

The US government has long been lobbying Moscow to release several Americans who the US believes are being unjustly detained, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, both accused of espionage. Whelan was sentenced to 16 years in prison for this in 2020.