American Soldier’s Covert Journey to Visit Russian Girlfriend Ends in Arrest

The U.S. Army confirmed that Staff Sergeant Gordon Black was arrested by Russian authorities last week for an unauthorized trip to Vladivostok, a Russian port city in the Far East.

Black, who was about to return home to Fort Hood Cavazos in Texas after his marriage (for the moment), made the trip to Vladivostok, Russia, to see his Russian honeypot…I meant girlfriend. He made the trip to Vladivostok without his command’s knowledge or consent. Black’s lover accused him of assaulting and stealing her 200,000 rubles as well as some alcohol.

Black has been ordered detained by a judge at the Pervomaisky District Court in Vladivostok until July 2, on charges of “theft that caused significant damage to a citizen.” Black faces up to five years in jail unless he is allowed the same option as so many Russian convicts, which is to stomp his way through Ukrainian minefields.

Black was assigned to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, the US Eighth Army. South Korea. Aleksandra Vaschchuk is a Russian national who has lived and worked in South Korea for at least five years. How did a GI find a Russian girl living in Korea? She could be a young, brilliant scholar who is studying abroad and honing her skills in the language. But I don’t think that’s likely. This 2018 story might hold the key.

Mark Krutov is a journalist with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. He has selected videos from Vashchuk’s Tikok.

As an aside, this PSA was broadcast on Radio Free Europe when it was pro-American.

Black has also earned a Combat Infantryman Badge and Airborne Wings, and the badge for riding in helicopters. According to his patch, he worked at the Eighth Army Wightman NCO Academy where he taught US NCOs and Korean Augmentation To The US Army (KATUSA). KATUSAs tend to be privileged, upper-middle class, or better Koreans who can fake English fluency and enroll in the KATUSA program instead of doing their conscription in a ROK Army Unit. They are placed in US units, where they can be useful as translators or liaisons with the local population.

Black explains his political views to Vashchuk in a new TikTok clip. Vashchuk is acting as the interviewer. Black believes that NATO is “pretty offensive,” Russia invaded Ukraine for a reason, and Donald Trump has the right idea.

He learns in this tender moment how to wish Russia victory on May 9th (Victory Day) 2022.

When he returns home, I’m certain Tucker Carlson has a slot for a guest host ready.

In this case, there are still many questions unanswered. Black’s biggest question is whether he let the wrong person make the decision or if he thought this was a Snowden-style defection, but then got cold feet. Or if the Russians decided that he wasn’t worth the trouble. SSG Black should be willing to discuss the circumstances and facts that led him to think this was a good idea.