Yesterday I wrote about a U.S. soldier who is being detained in Russia. Staff Sgt. Gordon Black appears to be the victim of a honey trap. He was set up.
According to a U.S. Army spokesperson, Black was detained last week. He had been stationed in South Korea and finished his deployment. He traveled to Russia on his own as he headed back to the U.S. It was described as a side trip to visit a woman with whom he was romantically involved.
He did not have permission from his superiors to go to Russia.
More details are emerging today. His mother, Melody Jones, who lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming, said that she knew her son planned to go to Russia. She asked him not to do that. She warned him that it would not end well for him. Mom was right.
The local section of Russia’s interior ministry said Black was detained at a hotel in the city after a 32-year-old woman made a complaint to police about a theft following an argument.
The unnamed Russian woman had been in a relationship with Black after meeting in South Korea, the ministry said. When she returned to Vladivostok, they had kept in touch online.
Black arrived in Vladivostok on April 10. They had an argument of some sort at her home, the ministry said.
“After he left, the girl discovered money was missing and turned to the police for help,” the ministry said. “Police officers found the suspect in one of the city hotels. He had purchased airline tickets and intended to fly home.”
A Russian newspaper, Izvestia, reported that a source said Black had beaten the woman and stole 200,000 Russian rubles, which is $2,200 in American dollars.
Black will be detained until at least July 2. The Pervomaisky District Court of Vladivostok decided to hold him for “secretly stealing the property of citizen T., causing the latter significant damage.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry said this is not a political case and there are no claims of espionage.
Radio Free Europe identified the woman as Aleksandra Vashchuk. It found a TikTok account of hers where she has posted many videos of the couple during their time in South Korea. In at least one video, Black is wearing his Army fatigues. She refers to Black as her husband. She calls him “pindos”, Russian slang for Americans that translates to “Yankee punk.”
Black is married and he has a child in Texas. His mother knew about the girlfriend and the TikTok videos. She said there was a Facebook post where Vashchuk demanded $600.
He is 34 years old and reported to be going through a divorce. He was on leave, returning to Fort Cavazos in Texas.
Sadly, we’ve seen this show before. Putin is aggressively increasing the hostage-taking of American citizens in Russia. Pre-trial detentions are extended over and over again without a trial date set.
Biden is seen as weak on the world stage. Putin is not afraid of him, so he acts with impunity. Americans are used as leverage in prisoner swaps.
Black’s arrest may complicate difficult back-channel negotiations between Washington and Moscow over the release of Americans held by Russia. Among those Americans beng held are Paul Whelan, Alsu Kurmasheva, Marc Fogel, Ksenia Khavana, and Travis Leake, a teacher and musician, arrested last year on drug charges.
The Russian woman’s videos get political. That isn’t good for a member of the American military. Vashchuk says that Trump is better than Biden. Black does not disagree. Vasshchuk criticized NATO as “an aggressive structure” and said that Black “understands Russia’s position, he understands Putin’s position.”
Oof.
Black should have listened to his mom. And, he should have adhered to the State Department’s advisories against travel to Russia.