Russian Court Rejects Jailed U.S. Soldier’s Sentence Appeal

A Russian court on Monday rejected an appeal by a U.S. soldier who was sentenced to nearly four years in jail for alleged death threats and theft.
In June, a court in Russia’s Far Eastern city of Vladivostok sentenced Gordon Black to three years and nine months in prison. He was arrested the month before while visiting a Russian woman he had met and dated while serving in South Korea.
The woman, identified by Russian media as Alexandra Vashuk, reported Black to the police after an argument, saying he physically attacked her and stole around 10,000 rubles ($111).
The American soldier pleaded “partially guilty” to theft and not guilty to threatening to kill Vashuk, saying she had started an argument with him after drinking.
Black appealed his sentence, but on Monday, the Primorye Regional Court rejected that appeal, saying it decided “to leave the verdict in place” after examining the case.
Black and Vashuk met in October 2022 on the dating app Tinder in South Korea. The pair dated in South Korea before Vashuk invited Black to visit Vladivostok.
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