US soldier arrested in Russia was 'visiting his girlfriend' when he was detained on theft charges, his mom says

An American soldier arrested in Russia was visiting his girlfriend when he was detained on theft charges, according to his mother.

Staff sergeant Gordon Black, 35, had reportedly just finished his service in South Korea and traveled to Russia without any kind of permission.

On Thursday, he was arrested for theft in Vladivostok, a port city near Russia's border with North Korea and China.

Speaking to Good Morning America, his mother Melody Jones said Black was on a two-week leave when he traveled to Russia, and that she felt he was being set up because she suspected his girlfriend was a spy.

'I told him I was really uncomfortable,' the concerned mother said. 'I had a bad feeling about him going, but he went anyway.... I knew something was going to happen.'

Russian TV has reported Black was arrested for beating a woman and stealing money from her.

Black was questioned for nine hours upon arrival at a Russian airport, Jones said, adding that she does not know if her son had a visa to visit Russia.

Jones said Black met his girlfriend at a club in South Korea over a year ago and they had a 'volatile' relationship.

Black had reportedly claimed his girlfriend got deported from South Korea after they were involved in a dispute in the fall of 2023. 

The soldier is being kept in pre trial confinement until July 2nd.

Black was supposed to transfer from South Korea to Fort Cavazos in Texas. 

The Russian Foreign Ministry’s office in Vladivostok has said Black's arrest is not political or related to espionage.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the US is aware of the cause but could not say much more at the moment.

Army spokeswoman Cynthia O. Smith said: 'The Russian Federation notified the U.S. Department of State of the criminal detention in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

'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.' 

Black is now one of several American citizens currently imprisoned in Russia.

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been held by Russia since last March.

Meanwhile former Marine Paul Whelan has been jailed since 2018; he is sentenced to 16 years in prison after being convicted of espionage.

Both are wrongfully detained, according to the US government.

Moreover, American-Russian ballerina Ksenia Karelina has been jailed in Russia since January or donating $51 to a Ukrainian charity.

She was charged with treason and faces up to 20 years in jail for making a small donation to the humanitarian charity Razom on the day Russia invaded Ukraine.

The payment was discovered after her phone was seized when she flew into Yekaterinburg's Koltsovo Airport on January 2, planning to visit her 90-year-old grandparents in time for Russia's Christmas day.

The US government has warned US citizens against traveling to Russia.