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The soldier, detained on Monday on charges of criminal
misconduct, was arrested on theft charges by a court in
Vladivostok in Russia's Far East, the regional office of the
Interior Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
The U.S. Army, which said on Monday it had been informed about
the detention, has not named the soldier.
The Interior Ministry did not identify the accused as a soldier
and did not name him or specify his nationality, but gave his
age as 34.
Citing the court's press office, the RIA state news agency said
that the soldier, whom the court identified as Gordon Black, is
to be detained until July 2.
The Ministry said a 32-year-old woman had filed a complaint
against the man, whom she had met in South Korea, where she was
working at the time.
The two began a relationship, and after the woman returned to
Vladivostok the man came to visit her, arriving on April 10, the
statement said, saying the couple later had an argument.
After the man left, the woman discovered an undisclosed sum of
money was missing and filed a police report. The statement said
the man had been arrested in a local hotel and had purchased
airline tickets, intending to flee to his home country.
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the
soldier had been based in South Korea.
The Russian daily Izvestia, quoting an unnamed source, said the
soldier had stolen 200,000 roubles ($2,196) from her.
Reuters could not independently verify the Izvestia report.
Separately, Moscow's court service said on Tuesday that a court
had remanded a U.S. citizen whom it named as William Russell
Nycum in custody for 10 days for "petty hooliganism".
It said he had been found naked outside after drinking alcohol
in an incident it said "expressed obvious disrespect to society,
citizens and public order."
When contacted by Reuters on Tuesday about the detention of the
two U.S. nationals, a spokesman for the U.S. embassy in Moscow
said:
"We are aware of reports of U.S. citizens being arrested inside
of Russia...Consular officers from the embassy always seek to
aid citizens with appropriate assistance but due to privacy
concerns we aren't able to comment further".
($1 = 91.0730 roubles)
(Reporting by Reuters, Editing by William MacleanWriting by Lucy
Papachristou in London and Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by
Andrew Osborn and William Maclean)
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