MOSCOW (AP) — A court docket in Russia’s far jap metropolis of Vladivostok on Wednesday convicted a visiting American soldier of stealing and making threats of homicide, and it sentenced him to a few years and 9 months in jail.
Employees Sgt. Gordon Black, 34, flew to the Pacific port metropolis to see his girlfriend and was arrested final month after she accused him of stealing from her, in response to U.S. officers and Russian authorities.
Russia’s state information companies Tass and RIA Novosti reported that the decide in Pervomaisky District Court docket in Vladivostok additionally ordered Black to pay 10,000 rubles ($115) in damages. Prosecutors had requested for a sentence of 4 years and eight months in jail.
Black’s case happens amid tensions over Russia’s arrests of American journalists and different U.S. nationals because the combating in Ukraine continues.
Russia has jailed numerous People, together with company safety government Paul Whelan and Wall Avenue Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. The U.S. authorities has designated each males as wrongfully detained and has been attempting to barter their launch.
Others detained embrace Travis Leake, a musician who has been dwelling in Russia for years and was arrested final yr on drug-related expenses; Marc Fogel, a instructor in Moscow who was sentenced to 14 years in jail, additionally on drug expenses; and twin nationals Alsu Kurmasheva and Ksenia Khavana.
The U.S. State Division strongly advises Americans to not go to Russia.
Black was on depart and within the technique of returning to his dwelling base at Fort Cavazos, Texas, from South Korea, the place he had been stationed at Camp Humphreys with the Eighth Army.
Cynthia Smith, an Army spokesperson, stated Black signed out for his transfer again dwelling and, “as an alternative of returning to the continental United States, Black flew from Incheon, Republic of Korea, by China to Vladivostok, Russia, for private causes.”
Below Pentagon coverage, service members should get clearance for any worldwide journey from a safety supervisor or commander.
The U.S. Army stated final month that Black hadn’t sought such journey clearance and it wasn’t licensed by the Protection Division. Given the hostilities in Ukraine and threats to the U.S. and its navy, this can be very unlikely he would have been granted approval.
Black’s girlfriend, Alexandra Vashchuk, informed reporters earlier this month that “it was a easy home dispute,” throughout which Black “grew to become aggressive and attacked” her.
“He then stole cash from my pockets and I didn’t give him permission to do it,” Vashchuk stated.
On Wednesday, she informed Russian information outlet Gazeta.ru that she considers the sentence “fairly humane” and described Black as “violent and unable to regulate himself.”
U.S. officers have stated that Black, who’s married, met Vashchuk in South Korea.
In response to U.S. officers, she had lived in South Korea, and final fall she and Black acquired into some sort of home dispute or altercation. After that, she left South Korea. It isn’t clear if she was pressured to depart or what, if any, position South Korean authorities had within the matter.
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