Last week, a US soldier was detained in Russia, the Army and the National Security Council (NSC) confirmed on Monday. On May 2, Russian authorities in Vladivostok arrested a U.S. soldier on charges of criminal misconduct, U.S. military spokeswoman Cynthia O. Smith said in a statement to The Hill.
An NSC spokesperson told The Hill that the State Department is actively seeking consular access for this individual, who was not in Russia on behalf of or affiliated with the U.S. government.
NSC initially reported that a service member who had been stationed in South Korea traveled to Russia on his own and was not on official business when he was arrested May 2 in Vladivostok, a port city near the borders with China and South Korea. North.
“Putin has a long history of holding American citizens hostage,” he said on X. “A warning to all Americans: As the State Department has said, it is not safe to travel to Russia.”
Reiteration by Russia
Russia has increasingly arrested Americans who have traveled to the country as relations between Moscow and Washington deteriorated following the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The Kremlin claims those it has arrested broke the law, while the United States maintains that Russia is targeting American citizens to use as political influence.
Also accused of espionage is former Marine Paul Whelan, arrested in Moscow in 2018 while attending a friend’s wedding. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020, but has stated that the charges against him are false.
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