(ConservativeSense.com) – Several American citizens have been detained in Russian jails as tensions continue to rise between the two nations.
In one of the highest profile cases, Wall Street Journalist reporter Evan Gershkovich was detained in March 2023 while covering a story in Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth largest city. His editor-in-chief called the pending trial ‘bogus” and said he will likely be convicted without evidence.
Former US Marine Robert Gilman was also recently imprisoned in Russia after he allegedly attacked a cop. He has since been accused of attacking prison guards and other officials on four occasions. Gilman claimed Russian authorities have been poisoning him. However, he did plead guilty to the charges relating to assault.
Another enlisted American, 34-year-old Staff Sergeant Gordon Black, was also arrested during a recent visit to Vladivostok, an eastern Russian city along the coast. He said he flew to visit a romantic interest. Authorities later accused him of stealing from the woman and threatening to murder her. He is currently serving a three year and nine month sentence.
They are among several other US citizens who have been detained in Russia on charges that officials believe are largely false. The detainment of US citizens has risen sharply as tensions continue to rise between the two countries. Many of those arrests came after Moscow suspended a nuclear weapons pact with the US. The Russian government has also severed many of the communication lines between the two countries.
One Russian defector said they are likely trying to use the hostages to reopen those channels. Boris Bondarev, who served as a diplomat until Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, said it appears to be part of a strategy to save face.
Moscow has said that it will consider a prisoner swap for some of the detained Americans, including Gershkovich. However, officials also insisted that negotiations must be carried out with “completed silence.” They also said that a verdict must be reached in Gershkovich’s trial before he can be released.
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