A Russian court confirmed on Tuesday that an American soldier would be held in custody for at least two months after being arrested on robbery charges.
“The Pervomaisky District Court in Vladivostok jailed American soldier Gordon Black until July 2 under the ‘robbery’ article” of Russia’s criminal code, court spokeswoman Elena Oleneva said in a statement.
Black, a sergeant, was detained in Russia last week and will be held in pretrial detention, the court said in a separate statement, referring only to “American citizen B.”
The court said Black was accused of “secretly stealing property” from a person referred to as “Citizen T”, adding that this caused “significant harm” to the alleged victim.
His detention was to prevent him from escaping charges, the court said.
“The court came to the conclusion that the US citizen B., under the weight of the accusations, in order to avoid responsibility, could hide from the preliminary investigation authorities and the court, thereby preventing the progress of the case,” the statement said .
NBC News revealed on Monday that the soldier was detained after traveling from where he was stationed in South Korea to the city of Vladivostok in Russia’s far east.
He was traveling home to the U.S. and stopped in Russia to meet a woman with whom he was romantically involved, authorities said.
Black was detained Thursday, a U.S. Army spokesman said Monday.
State news agency TASS reported on Tuesday that the Russian Foreign Ministry office in Vladivostok said his detention had nothing to do with politics.
“This case is not related to politics or espionage. From what we understand, a domestic crime [is suspected] in that case. That is why the mission of the Russian Foreign Ministry in Vladivostok is not closely following the case of the US citizen,” the mission said, according to TASS.
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said Monday he was “deeply troubled” by the news. He said on X that the detention was “a warning to all Americans — as the State Department has said, it is not safe to travel to Russia.”
Current travel guidance of the US State Department advises against all travel to Russia.
There are several other Americans being held in Russian prisons, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested last March, and former Marine Paul Whelan, who was arrested in 2018. The US government has said both are being held unfairly.
Meanwhile, another US citizen has been arrested and detained in Russia, it was revealed Tuesday. The man, called “Russell William”, was sentenced to 10 days in prison for “petty vandalism”, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti on its Telegram channel.
Citing a Ren TV report, RIA said the American “got drunk, climbed through the window of a children’s library and fell asleep there.”
The Associated Press reported that the detention of US citizens in Russia has reached Cold War levels.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
