US Army spokesperson Cynthia Smith announced that a US Army soldier had been detained in Russia since Thursday. Arrested in Vladivostok and placed in pre-trial detention, he is accused of “criminal offence” by the Russian authorities. The soldier’s family was notified and consular support was provided.
“Due to the sensitivity of the matter, we are unable to provide further details at this time,” she said. According to the American media NBC News, it was a sergeant deployed in South Korea who traveled to Russia on his own initiative, where he was arrested on suspicion of theft. “We are aware of this matter,” said John Kirby, a National Security Council spokesman at the White House.
Numerous arrests in recent years
In recent years, the number of American citizens arrested in Russia has continued to increase, with those receiving heavy sentences as a result. Financial and military support for Ukraine, Washington even accuses Moscow of wanting to exchange these prisoners for Russians detained in the United States. Among the American detainees, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was arrested by the Russian security services (FSB) while reporting in Yekaterinburg, in the Urals, in March 2023.
The latter is accused of espionage, a crime punishable by 20 years in prison, a sentence of unprecedented severity since the end of the USSR concerning a journalist of foreign nationality. Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, working for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), has also been in detention since October 2023 for failing to register as a “foreign agent” as the Russian authorities demand it.