US soldier arrested in Russia and imprisoned for two months

CNN
—

An American soldier arrested in Russia on suspicion of theft will be held for two months, a Russian district court said on Tuesday.

The soldier – whose name is Gordon Black, according to a US official – will remain in custody until July 2, the Pervomaisky District Court in Vladivostok ruled.

The US citizen is accused of “committing a secret theft of the property of a citizen T. and thereby causing him significant damage,” the court statement says, referring to psychological damage.

A Russian Foreign Ministry official told Russian state media TASS on Tuesday that the case had “no connection with politics or espionage.”

“As far as we know, this is a purely domestic crime. Therefore, the State Department mission in Vladivostok does not closely monitor the fate of an American citizen,” the mission said, according to TASS.

The arrest comes at a time of great tension between the US and Russia as the war with Ukraine continues. Several Americans are being held in Russia, including two deemed unlawfully detained by the U.S. State Department: Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan.

According to another US official, the soldier was stationed in South Korea when he took leave to travel to Russia on his own. He was neither absent nor absent without permission at the time of the trip, the source said.

He was then supposed to go to Ft. move. Cavazos in Texas in the future, the official said, but could not provide a specific date for the change of station.

CNN’s Natasha Bertrand, Oren Lieberman and Kylie Atwood contributed to this report.