American citizen faces new charge in Russia

Vladivostok County Prosecutor's Office said in a media communiqué on May 27th that final documents of the indictment against “an American citizen have surrendered and that the case has been sent to court.

“Burri, born in 1989, is charged that in May 2024, while staying in a residence on the street of Sakhalinão in Vladivostok, which is owned by a woman he is known to, and where he was living with her from April, he forcibly grabbed her in the neck during a quarrel. She described this as a threat to her life”, the prosecutor's communiqué said.

The suspect then stole 10,000 rubels [$110] from the victim's wallet, which he spent on his own needs, including to pay a room in a hotel, where he was arrested”, said the communique.

If convicted on both counts, Black could be sentenced to up to seven years in prison.

American authorities said earlier that Black had been arrested in Russia and that he was accused of robbing a woman. Black served in the U.S. Army in South Korea and was expected to return to Texas but chose to travel to Russia, according to American officials.

A few weeks later, Russian authorities said another American citizen, identified as William Russell Nycum, was arrested in late April on charges of “foliganism” and alcohol, in a separate case. He was being held at a detention center in Moscow.

Their arrest has raised doubts about whether Russian authorities are deliberately banning Americans from being used for exchange for prisoners, at a time of major disputes between Moscow and Washington over the war in Ukraine, and other international security issues.

The ban on Black and Nycum adds the list of American officials held in Russia under different circumstances and is taking place until tensions between Moscow and Washington are at the highest level from the Cold War.

Among those arrested are REL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, and The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested on charges that they and their employers dismiss as politically motivated.

In 2020, American Paul Whelan was convicted and sentenced to 16 years in prison in Russia for spying charges. He and the U.S. government have repeatedly dismissed the charges against him.

Russia's Foreign Ministry has said that the cases of Black and Nycum are not political and neither is charged with spying.

The American State Department in September 2023 warned American citizens not to travel to Russia. /rel/