CNN
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An American soldier arrested in Russia on suspicion of theft will be detained for 2 months, a Russian district court docket mentioned Tuesday.
Workers Sgt. Gordon Black can be in detention till July 2, the Pervomaisky District Court docket of Vladivostok dominated.
Black is accused of “committing secret theft of the property of a citizen T., inflicting important harm to the latter,” the court docket assertion mentioned, referring to psychological damages.
He was not approved by the Protection Division to journey to Russia and didn’t request official clearance to take action when he left his unit in South Korea practically a month in the past, in response to Military spokesperson Cynthia Smith.
Black out-processed from his station at Eighth Military, US Forces Korea on April 10, Smith mentioned, and took go away earlier than he was supposed to maneuver again to the US and be stationed at Fort Cavazos, Texas. As a substitute, he flew from South Korea via China to Vladivostok, Russia, “for private causes,” in response to Smith.
A Russian Overseas Ministry consultant informed Russian state media TASS on Tuesday that the case is “not associated to politics or espionage.”
“So far as we perceive, this can be a purely home crime. Subsequently, the consultant workplace of the Ministry of Overseas Affairs in Vladivostok doesn’t carefully monitor the destiny of an American citizen,” the consultant workplace mentioned, in response to TASS.
The arrest comes at a time of big pressure between the US and Russia because the battle with Ukraine continues. There are a variety of People being held in Russia, together with two who’ve been declared as wrongfully detained by the US State Division – Wall Road Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan.
“I’m deeply involved by stories {that a} US Military officer has been detained in Russia,” Home Overseas Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul mentioned Monday.
Black enlisted within the Military as an infantryman in 2008 and deployed to each Iraq and Afghanistan in 2009 and 2013, in response to Smith.
“(Russian President Vladimir) Putin has a protracted historical past of holding Americans hostage. A warning to all People — because the State Division has mentioned, it’s not protected to journey to Russia.”
CNN’s Oren Liebermann and Kylie Atwood contributed to this report.
