US soldier Gordon Black is detained in Russia on theft charges after traveling into country from South Korean base

• Sergeant Gordon Black was stationed in South Korea and went to Russia alone
• He is now one of several American citizens currently imprisoned in Russia

An American soldier was detained in Russia over the weekend, per US officials.

Staff sergeant Gordon D. Black was taken into custody on May 2 in Vladivostock, near the border with China and North Korea.

He was stationed in South Korea and traveled to Russia on his own, as reported by CBS News on Monday. 

It’s not clear how Black traveled to Russia but it was not on official business for the army.

Black was apparently in the process of changing stations from Korea to Fort Hood in Texas.

The soldier is reportedly accused of sealing from a woman. 

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the US is aware of the cause but could not say much more at the moment. 

The soldier is now one of several American citizens currently imprisoned in Russia. 

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been held by Russia since last March.

Meanwhile former Marine Paul Whelan has been jailed since 2018; he is sentenced to 16 years in prison after being convicted of espionage. 

Both are wrongfully detained, according to the US government. 

Moreover, American-Russian ballerina Ksenia Karelina has been jailed in Russia since January or donating $51 to a Ukrainian charity.

She was charged with treason and faces up to 20 years in jail for making a small donation to the humanitarian charity Razom on the day Russia invaded Ukraine.

The payment was discovered after her phone was seized when she flew into Yekaterinburg’s Koltsovo Airport on January 2, planning to visit her 90-year-old grandparents in time for Russia’s Christmas day.

She was arrested after being invited to pick up her phone on January 27.