US SOLDIER GOES ON TRIAL IN RUSSIA FOR THREATENING TO KILL GIRLFRIEND
A U.S. soldier, Gordon Black, stationed in South Korea but detained in Russia on suspicion of stealing from his girlfriend and threatening to kill her, went on trial on Thursday.
Black was detained on May 2 in Vladivostok in Russia’s far east on suspicion of stealing from his Russian girlfriend.
Citing local prosecutors, Russian independent media reported he had also subsequently been charged with threatening to kill her.
Black, a U.S. Army staff sergeant posted at Camp Humphreys outside Seoul, pleaded guilty to theft in May.
As his trial in Vladivostok began, Black said he understood the charges against him and agreed to testify.
When the judge asked him if he admitted guilt, he was quoted as saying he would enter a plea later.
The interior ministry said Black had met the Russian woman in South Korea and later traveled to Vladivostok to be with her.
Testifying in court on Thursday, Black’s girlfriend Alexandra Vasyuk said he had frequent outbursts of aggression and also had run-ins with Russian police prior to his detention.
