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Moscow's Ostankino District Court said that on Jan. 6 Robert
Romanov Woodland had been remanded in custody until March 5 on
charges relating to the illegal acquisition or possession of
drugs.
Russian internet news site Mash said that Woodland, 32, was
charged with attempted large-scale production and sale of
illegal drugs. He was detained on Jan. 5, Mash said.
A Facebook account in the name of Robert Woodland indicated that
he had been working as an English teacher in Russia, and lived
outside Moscow. It was not immediately possible to contact
Woodland in Russian custody.
In 2020, Woodland, who was known to friends as "Rob", told a
Russian newspaper that he was adopted in 1993 by U.S. citizens
from an orphanage in Perm, in the Urals, and taken to live in
the United States. He later returned to Russia.
He appears to have both Russian and American passports.
The U.S. says that several of its citizens are wrongfully
imprisoned in Russia, including Marine Corps veteran Paul Whelan
and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.
The State Department has repeatedly warned all Americans to
leave Russia immediately, citing the risk of wrongful detentions
and harassment from Russian security services.
In Woodland's 2020 interview with the Komsomolskaya Pravda
newspaper, he said that he had wonderful adopted parents in the
United States.
But he wanted to search for his genetic mother in Russia and was
eventually reunited with her on Russian state television.
"Mama was crying and begging for forgiveness. But I forgave her
before this meeting. I've never been angry at her. I simply
always missed her very much."
"I was drawn to Russia with a tremendous force. And here I am. I
have decided to stay in my motherland forever," he said in the
interview.
(Writing by Guy FaulconbridgeEditing by Gareth Jones)
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