This content was formerly published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and it is now being reprinted with permission.
U. S. Army Staff Sergeant Gordon Black, who was arrested in Russia’s Far East city of Vladivostok past fortnight,  , rejected , a command of attacking his Russian girl and threatening to kill her, as his demo resumed.
At the test on June 17, Black claimed that Aleksandra Vashchuk began acting aggressively toward him after drinking a lot of liquor the day of the incident in question, orally insulting him, and even physically attacking him with blows to the ear and eye. She even threw a tray at him, he said.
According to Black, when he started to package his possessions to leave the apartment, Vashchuk tried to block his leave and they scuffled.
After pushing her half, Vashchuk crashed into a wall, after Black acknowledged that he had hit Vashchuk again.
Black largely accepted sadness over the accusation that he had taken money from Vashchuk, adding that he had no evil intentions in mind as he returned the money to her the following day.
Black also said that, before arriving in Vladivostok from South Korea, he sent about 300, 000 rubles ($ 3, 350 ) to Vashchuk. After arriving in Russia, he transferred another$ 525 to her via an encounter.
Vashchuk confirmed that Black had contributed a significant portion of the monthly fee to the house in Vladivostok where they had shared a quarter of living. She repeated her earlier claim, stating that Black and she had extreme relationships several times during their relationship.
Vashchuk argued that Black needed “psychiatric help” at the prosecution’s opening session on June 6 and that he should not be imprisoned.
According to U.S. government, Black had been assigned before returning home to Texas and was supposed to China from South Korea without telling his bosses.
Weeks afterwards, Russian officials also said that another U. S. member, identified as William Russell Nycum, had been detained on “petty violence” and drinking fees in a separate event, adding that Nycum was being held in a detention centre in Moscow.
In the midst of fierce disputes between Moscow and Washington over the Ukraine war and other global security concerns, questions have been raised about whether Russian officials are detaining Americans and using them in possible prisoner transfers.
Alsu Kurmasheva of RFE/RL and Evan Gershkovich of The Wall Street Journal are two of the American citizens currently detained. Both have been detained on charges they, their employers, and their supporters reject as politically motivated.
American Paul Whelan was found guilty in 2020 of espionage-related charges and given a 16-year sentence by the Russian government. Both he and the U.S. government have repeatedly refuted this.
The cases involving Black and Nycum are not political, according to Russia’s foreign ministry, and neither one is suspected of espionage.
The State Department in September 2023 issued a “do not travel” warning to U. S. citizens and cited” the singling out of U. S. citizens for detention by Russian government security officials”.
