Gordon Black, a US soldier who has been jailed in the Russian city of Vladivostok since July 2, has been charged with theft causing considerable damage, according to a Russian court.
The imprisonment of Black, who the Pentagon claims flew to Russia without authority, creates yet another diplomatic dilemma for the United States, which has advised its people against all travel to Russia.
He was apprehended in early May in Vladivostok, Russia’s Far East.
The Pervomaisky District Court of Vladivostok said in a statement that it had decided to keep Black until July 2 as a preventative measure for “secretly stealing the property of citizen T., causing the latter significant damage.”
“When choosing the preventive measure in the form of detention, the court came to the conclusion that US citizen B. (Black) – under the weight of the charges – could hide from the preliminary investigation authorities and the court to avoid responsibility,” the court said in the statement.
Earlier, the court’s press service identified the soldier as Gordon Black.
The Russian interior ministry in Vladivostok said on Tuesday that a 32-year-old woman had filed a complaint against the 34-year-old suspect.
The two had met in South Korea. The American had come to Vladivostok to visit her, the two had an argument, and she later filed a police report accusing him of stealing money, it said. He was arrested in a local hotel, having bought a plane ticket to return home.
The Pentagon said on Tuesday that before his arrest in Russia, Black not only broke Army rules by travelling to the Russian city of Vladivostok without authorization, but he did so after passing through China.
