A US soldier arrested in Russia told his local girlfriend he supported Trump and repeated the Kremlin’s line on “aggressive” NATO, videos show

World News

From Caitlin Doornbos And Diana Glebova

WASHINGTON – An American soldier detained in Russia last week expressed sympathy for Russia’s view of the war in Ukraine and echoed Moscow’s arguments in videos posted to his Russian ex-girlfriend’s TikTok account denounced NATO.

“I think NATO is pretty aggressive,” said Army Staff Sgt. Gordon C. Black, 34, told an online audience in a video with his then-girlfriend Aleksa Viktorovna. “Honestly, I understand Russia’s position. Obviously they want to defend their country.”

Black was arrested on May 2 in the Pacific port city of Vladivostok – near Russia’s borders with North Korea and China – on charges of “theft of personal property” after traveling to the US enemy country to meet his former girlfriend visit, Army spokeswoman Cynthia Smith told The Post Tuesday.

Black traveled to Vladivostok after completing his service as an Army instructor in South Korea on April 10. He was scheduled to leave the foreign base directly for his next duty station in Texas, Smith said.

“Instead of returning to the continental United States, Black flew from Incheon (South) Korea to Vladivostok (Russia) via China for personal reasons,” she explained. “Black has not requested official approval and (the Defense Department) has not approved his travel to China and Russia. Business and leisure travel is currently restricted in accordance with the DoD Foreign Clearance Guide.”

It is unclear whether Viktorovna influenced Black’s pro-Russian stance or whether she was part of a “honeypot” plan targeting the married staff sergeant.

The Army has opened an administrative investigation “to determine the facts and circumstances” of Black’s trip, Pentagon deputy spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said Tuesday.

There was no further information about the nature of the allegations against Black, nor is it clear who prepared the report.

Black’s foreign policy comments echoed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regular propaganda claims that the NATO security alliance was affecting his country’s defense capability, as well as his false claims that Moscow had a historic right to Ukraine’s sovereign territory.

Viktorovna – who also goes by Aleksandra Vashchuk – expressed a similar opinion in the TikTok post.

“It seems that NATO has gone not only to Ukraine, but also to America and Korea. It seems like he should be put in the trash can,” she said, apparently referring to her American soldier friend who was stationed in South Korea at the time.

Black was also critical of President Biden and agreed with Viktorovna’s statement that “Trump is better” in videos first reported by Radio Free Europe on Tuesday. The soldier also blamed Biden for tensions between the US and Russia, saying in a video showing the pair that relations were “definitely better under Trump.”

“I just don’t — (Biden) doesn’t handle situations the way he should,” he said. “And I think that’s one of the bigger reasons why things are the way they are now.”

“And this doesn’t just apply to Russia, as you can see it in other countries as well,” Black added, pointing to the U.S.’s poor relations with China, another American adversary.

In many videos, Vikotorovna treated Black harshly, calling him names and teasing him in both English and Russian. In one, she complained that TikTok had removed a video she had previously posted of Black, in which the social media platform violated its community guidelines with “scenes of humiliation,” according to Radio Free Europe.

In the aforementioned scene, Black gives Viktorovna an iPad – while she reciprocates with a simple pair of socks.

In another video, Viktorovna filmed Black asking him to say “Russian Victory Day” in Russian before turning the camera back on herself.

“Happy Victory Day!” she said in Russian in the video. “Today we will torture Americans and Germans.”

Viktorovna referred to Black as her “husband” in another clip in which Black repeated some Russian curse words. Wearing a T-shirt that read “I don’t give Af-K” in Russian, she repeatedly called Black “crazy” and jokingly wondered where he learned the profanity.

She then described a scenario in which Russian soldiers would consider executing him if he uttered the curse words.

“They said, ‘Maybe we should kill him?’ Maybe he’s sick?'” she said in Russian.

Black has been in the Army for more than 15 years and enlisted as an infantryman in 2008, Smith said. Black was deployed to Iraq from October 2009 to September 2010 and to Afghanistan from June 2013 to March 2014.

He will remain in custody until at least July 2nd. If convicted, Black could face a prison sentence of up to five years in Russia.