Posted on 05/06/2024 1:19:27 PM PDT by Red Badger
The soldier, who was stationed in Korea and traveled to Russia on his own, is accused of stealing from a woman.
A U.S. soldier was detained in Russia last week, a U.S. Army spokesperson said in a statement.
He had been stationed in South Korea and traveled to Russia on his own and not on official business, according to four U.S. officials.
The soldier is accused of stealing from a woman, the officials said.
The soldier was detained on May. 2, U.S. Army spokesperson Cynthia O. Smith, said in a statement.
In a statement, Smith said that the soldier was apprehended in Vladivostok, Russia "on charges of criminal misconduct."
"The Russian Federation notified the U.S. Department of State of the criminal detention in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations," Smith said. "The Army notified his family and the U.S. Department of State is providing appropriate consular support to the Soldier in Russia. Given the sensitivity of this matter, we are unable to provide additional details at this time.."
Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said he is "deeply concerned" by reports that a soldier was detained in Russia.
"Putin has a long history of holding American citizens hostage," McCaul said in a post shared on X. "A warning to all Americans—as the State Department has said, it is not safe to travel to Russia."
The soldier, who officials did not name, is one of a number of Americans detained in Russia, including several civilians.
Arrests of Americans in Russia have increased as the relationship between the two countries has sunk to Cold War lows, The Associated Press reported. The U.S. has accused Russia of targeting Americans and using them as bargaining chips, according to the AP.
Among the most prominent U.S. citizens to be detained are Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was jailed last March, and former Marine Paul Whelan, who was arrested in 2018. The U.S. government has said that both Gershkovich and Whelan are wrongfully detained.
WNBA star Brittney Griner spent 10 months in Russian penal colonies for drug-related charges but was released in a rare prisoner exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in 2022.
This is a developing story.
Gulf of Tonkin here we come
He stole my rubles.
As far as I know you could have one in 10 days or so as a US citizen. Even with the embassy/consulate cutbacks the visa regime is still in place. The US and Russia are not at war after all, even though the POTUS seems to think we should be.
Idiot made himself a hostage. Do like they did in Dune. Declare him dead and move on.
IDK, Tucker says its nicer there then in the U.S.
“ Why would anybody go to Russia right now? 😖”
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Particularly Vladivostok instead of St Petersburg.
WTF is he doing there?!
A disagreement, perhaps, over the hourly or nightly cost of goods and services provided by a woman morphs into “U.S. soldier steals from a woman in the port city of Vladivostok”
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