Russian court rejects US soldier's appeal against prison sentence

A Russian court on Monday rejected the appeal of a US soldier who was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison for alleged death threats and theft.

Gordon Black was convicted in June by a court in the far eastern Russian city of Vladivostok. He was arrested there in May while visiting a Russian woman he had met and dated while serving in South Korea.

The 34-year-old was arrested after the woman, who according to Russian media is named Alexandra Vashuk, reported him to the police following an argument. She said he physically attacked her and stole about $110 from her.

Black pleaded “partially guilty” to theft and not guilty to threatening to kill Vashuk. She said she started an argument after drinking.

Black appealed against the verdict, but the Primorsky Regional Court rejected the appeal on Monday, saying that after examining the case, it had decided to “leave the verdict in force.”

The couple met and began dating in South Korea in October 2022 through the dating app Tinder, Black said, before Vashuk invited him to come to Vladivostok.

Black is one of several American citizens imprisoned in Russia.
Washington accuses Moscow of arresting its citizens on baseless charges in order to use them as bargaining chips for the release of Russians convicted abroad.

On August 1, Russia released US reporter Evan Gershkovich, former US Marine Paul Whelan and 14 others in the largest prisoner exchange with the West since the Cold War.