A Russian court has announced that US soldier Gordon Black, who is being held in the Russian city of Vladivostok until July 2, has been charged with theft causing serious damage.
Black’s detention, which the Pentagon says traveled to Russia without permission, is a new diplomatic headache for the United States, which has warned Americans not to travel to Russia at all.
He was arrested in Vladivostok in Russia’s far east in early May.
Vladivostok’s Pervomaysky District Court announced in a statement that it had decided on precautionary measures to keep Black in custody until July 2 for “secretly stealing the property of citizen T and causing serious damage to citizen T.”
“The court held that in choosing the preventive measure of detention, U.S. Citizen B (a black man) could, given the gravity of the charges, hide from preliminary investigative authorities and the courts in order to avoid liability.” We have reached a conclusion.” The court said in a statement:
Earlier, the court’s press office identified the soldier as Gordon Black.
Russia’s Interior Ministry in Vladivostok announced on Tuesday that a 32-year-old woman had filed a complaint against the 34-year-old suspect.
The two met in Korea.
The American man had come to Vladivostok to visit his girlfriend, and the two got into an argument, after which the woman filed a police report accusing him of stealing her money.
He was arrested at a local hotel after purchasing a plane ticket to return home.
