About this episode
An American soldier is being held by Russian authorities on charges of criminal misconduct, Army officials confirmed Monday. The Associated Press cited U.S. officials who said the soldier, Staff Sgt. Gordon Black, 34, was stationed in South Korea and was in the process of returning home to Fort Cavazos in Texas. Instead, officials said Black, who is married, traveled to Russia to see a longtime girlfriend and was accused of theft. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel details, according to The Associated Press. In a statement, Army spokeswoman Cynthia Smith said the service member was arrested on May 2 by Russian authorities in Vladivostok. She did not provide any information about the soldier’s identity or reasons for being in Russia. “The Russian Federation notified the U.S. Department of State of the criminal detention in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations,” she said. “The Army notified his family and the U.S. Department of State is providing appropriate consular support to the soldier in Russia.” The Associated Press reported the Russian woman had lived in South Korea, and last fall she and Black got into some type of domestic dispute or altercation, according to officials. After that, she left South Korea. It isn’t clear if she was forced to leave or what, if any, role Korean authorities had in the matter. You can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/ZeroBlog30