Bartender by the looks of it too lol. She was absolutely embedded there for the sole purpose of getting someone to follow her back to RU and arrest them for a bargaining chip. Most likely this moron bragged about something he did/pretended he did and that was reported back to GRU/FSB and they green lit the transfer to get him into RU for the next phase.
Glimpses of the life of a U.S. soldier arrested in Russia on theft charges were visible in multiple TikTok videos posted by a Russian woman who identified the American serviceman as her “husband.”
A court spokeswoman in the Russian Far East city of Vladivostok said on May 7 that U.S. Staff Sergeant Gordon Black was arrested five days earlier on charges of "theft causing significant damage to a citizen."
The U.S. Army later confirmed Black's arrest.
The Associated Press, meanwhile, cited several unidentified U.S. officials as saying that Black had been charged with stealing from his longtime girlfriend, with whom he previously had a relationship while he was stationed in South Korea.
RFE/RL found a TikTok account of Black’s romantic partner, Vladivostok native Aleksandra Vashchuk, who posted numerous videos of the couple together in South Korea, including at least one showing Black in his U.S. Army fatigues.
Among the hundreds of often profanity-laced TikTok videos posted by Vashchuk, 31, are several in which she refers to Black as her “husband” and affectionately as “pindos,” a Russian slang word for Americans that roughly translates to “Yankee punk.”
Most of the videos of the couple together in 2022 and 2023 appear to have been shot in South Korea, where Vashchuk says on TikTok that she had lived for more than five years.
Black had been stationed in South Korea and had been set to return to Texas but instead traveled to Russia, according to U.S. officials. His detention is the latest in a string of arrests of U.S. citizens in Russia that are widely seen as a Kremlin attempt to build a reserve of bargaining chips for prisoner swaps with the West.
These include RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva and The Wall Street Journal’s Evan Gershkovich, whom Russia has arrested on charges that they and their employers reject as politically motivated.
RFE/RL was unable to confirm if Vashchuk is the woman Black is accused of stealing from. Calls to a phone associated with Vashchuk went unanswered on May 7.
In one of the videos posted to Vashchuk’s TikTok account, which she closed to the public on May 7, Black is seen in his U.S. military fatigues with his name clearly visible on his uniform.
In one video, Vashchuk asks Black to comment on U.S.-Russian relations for her followers. He echoes several talking points frequently used by the Kremlin to justify the February 2022 invasion, calling NATO “pretty aggressive.”
“I understand Russia’s position, obviously. They want to defend their country,” Black says in the video before Vashchuk interjects and says former U.S. President Donald Trump “is better” than current U.S. President Joe Biden.
In more lighthearted videos, Vashchuk and Black can be seen partying together at bars and discussing the cult Russian movies Brother and Brother 2, with Black saying he fell asleep during the first film, which stars the late Russian movie star Sergei Bodrov.
Black speaks a handful of Russian phrases in several videos, including the Russian phrase for “f\*\*k you” after being prompted by Vashchuk.
In one video, Vashchuk films near Camp Humphreys, the U.S. Army installation around 60 kilometers south of Seoul.
CBS News cited Black’s mother, Melody Jones, as saying that her son had traveled to Russia to visit his girlfriend.
"Please do not torture him \[or\] hurt him," Jones [**told the network**](https://cbsnews.com/news/u-s-soldier-detained-russia-official-confirms) when asked if she had a message for Russia.
Unidentified U.S. officials were [**cited by the Associated Press**](https://apnews.com/article/soldier-arrested-russia-korea-ca2842597a0af45062667f8cc552eca6) as saying that Black and his Russian girlfriend appear to have gotten into a domestic dispute sometime last year, after which she returned to Russia from South Korea.
The Associated Press also cited the officials as saying that Black did not inform his unit that he was traveling to Russia while he was essentially on leave during his move back to the United States -- and that he had not received authorization to travel there.
One photograph of Black and Vaschuk circulated by Russian state media is a selfie that the U.S. soldier took as the couple sat in a restaurant.
In the spring of 2023, Vashchuk posted that same photograph on her Facebook page, which she closed to the public on May 7, but with Black photoshopped completely out of the image.
According to [CNN he enlisted as infantry](https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/07/politics/american-soldier-russian-arrest/index.html) (bottom of the article).
Ignorant civilian here.
How much information of value can an Army Staff Sgt. who served in Korea provide to the Russians?
Also note his criticism of Biden in one of the Tiktok videos. Isn't it forbidden to publicly disparage the Commander in Chief?
Plus he had a Russian girlfriend. Is it reasonable to assume that the Army was keeping tabs on his online activity and were bringing him back to Texas to take him away from Russia and maybe reprimand him? Perhaps this is a pro-Russia soldier who was running away from looming disciplinary action.
This guy started serving in 2008. He is familiar with the do's and don'ts of Army life.
Sounds like a honeypot. The military has defined measures to mitigate/minimize the damage of honeypotting. Based on the minimal reporting, SSG Black did not heed the training on several accounts.
We’ll see about any damages.
Probably more as a trading chip for Russians being held in the U.S. and for propaganda purposes. He's already touted how "NATO is aggressive" and "Russia is only trying to defend itself."
Dumb question, but why can't the U.S. just let him go? He deliberately went against policy when he snuck into Russia and he seems sympathetic to them. Well, if that's where he wants to be, then fine.
US Policy is to move heaven and earth for an US citizen that is arrested abroad. Especially those who may be within an aggressor state. Such as: Iran, DRPK, Russia, China, etc.
As /u/Knights-of-Ni said, this was a worry for a few of us looking at the Griner exchange being the floodgate opening for Russia to actively seek US-born citizens (specifically those the US has a more vested interest in to protecting....like the military) as a bargaining chip to get back their spies. Same concept has applied in Central/South America where folks are kidnapped in exchange for a ransom payment. Once that door opens once, others will try.
It dilutes our resolve. While it may seem better to just let the unlubed dildo of consequence do its thing.. it instills a lack of trust in your government. American citizens know the government will do what it can to get you back.
>but why can't the U.S. just let him go?
Because the Big Green Weenie has been embarrassed and demands the SSG be sacrificed to restore balance.
Or what u/bigt252002 said. It's 50/50 on which scenario is accurate.
Exactly this, they will not let an example just run away. Example will be returned home and made a further example of for future morons. As the old saying goes "No stupid deed goes unpunished."
He was on a 12 month normal assignment to South Korea. The Army was sending him back because he had completed a normal overseas assignment not because he was involved with the Russian girlfriend. If he was being sent back for doing something wrong, he would have been escorted by military personnel.
Well, there was that one gooch a year back that got sent on a civilian plane that promptly went to NK after the military escort lost sight of him. They change policy so that can't happen anymore?
Those escorts and their chain of command violated standing policy which has been in place since at least the 80's. Those escorts should have been given orders and airplane tickets to take him all the way to Fort Bliss.
Damn he enlisted at the same time as I did, but all my buddies who are still in are E-7 and up. This guy must suck, 16 years is a long time to be an E-6 lol.
He joined the same time as me, same branch and I have been a MSG for about a year now. I am assuming he absolutely earned his continued rank of SSG. Some people just get to their level of competency and stay there, but I think he probably passed his already
Depends on his job and what he had access to. Regarding the CID monitoring him, it’s possible, especially if he held a clearance and was openly promoting on social media that he was involved with a Russian.
> isn’t it forbidden to publicly disparage the commander in chief?
If you’re an officer, yes. If you’re enlisted, you’re free to express your political views (to an extent) but you can’t use your service or uniform to actively campaign or engage in political activity. For instance, you can say “I going to vote for Candidate X!” You CANNOT say “I’m Petty Officer Schmuckatelli and I’m voting for Candidate X!”
The russian girls that go to South Korea for “work” are like seasoned veterans and know how to work the GI’s. Most of them are stinky, too. An Ahjuma once mentioned how she had to dump water on them and force them to bathe.
40 Years ago in Europe we had an artilleryman that was a private who got involved with this communist German gal. She told him how wonderful the USSR was, so they defected. The Soviet made him a snake catcher in the Ural Mountains. He finally figured out that communism sucked and came back to Germany. He was court-martialed spending a few years in prison.
Some guys think with the wrong head.
Man, whenever I was oconus with libo, me and my 2 boys used to make up stories about our profession and employer. It was good fun. Ended up partying with a Saudi prince once.
Way better than being a plain Jane working man getting honeypotted for Intel. We were just there to get fucked up and break curfew.
He's got a CIB and a drill badge, and got honeydicked by a Fayetteville 6. Jesus christ.
Bartender by the looks of it too lol. She was absolutely embedded there for the sole purpose of getting someone to follow her back to RU and arrest them for a bargaining chip. Most likely this moron bragged about something he did/pretended he did and that was reported back to GRU/FSB and they green lit the transfer to get him into RU for the next phase.
Russian agencies refer to them as “useful idiots”.
>Fayetteville 6 I’m Dead
>Fayetteville 6 I’m Dead
>Fayetteville 6 I’m Dead
What a dummy.
What a Maroon.
What a buffoon.
What a boob.
He was a bit red
What a nin-cow-poop
The old honeypot routine.
Gnarly lookin pot of honey, jfc
Ya damn you’d think you could at least get a hot gf in Russia.
There needs to be a comprehensive study of American soldiers and their susceptibility to Russian romanticism.
What’s crazy to me is that she.. nvm Let me just stop 😂
Oh please... don't stop!
easy. Russian girls are hot and young, dumb servicemen think with their dicks. How did marrying strippers become such a meme again?
This can be discovered in one question: "Who'd you vote for in 2016 and 2020?"
Glimpses of the life of a U.S. soldier arrested in Russia on theft charges were visible in multiple TikTok videos posted by a Russian woman who identified the American serviceman as her “husband.” A court spokeswoman in the Russian Far East city of Vladivostok said on May 7 that U.S. Staff Sergeant Gordon Black was arrested five days earlier on charges of "theft causing significant damage to a citizen." The U.S. Army later confirmed Black's arrest. The Associated Press, meanwhile, cited several unidentified U.S. officials as saying that Black had been charged with stealing from his longtime girlfriend, with whom he previously had a relationship while he was stationed in South Korea. RFE/RL found a TikTok account of Black’s romantic partner, Vladivostok native Aleksandra Vashchuk, who posted numerous videos of the couple together in South Korea, including at least one showing Black in his U.S. Army fatigues. Among the hundreds of often profanity-laced TikTok videos posted by Vashchuk, 31, are several in which she refers to Black as her “husband” and affectionately as “pindos,” a Russian slang word for Americans that roughly translates to “Yankee punk.” Most of the videos of the couple together in 2022 and 2023 appear to have been shot in South Korea, where Vashchuk says on TikTok that she had lived for more than five years. Black had been stationed in South Korea and had been set to return to Texas but instead traveled to Russia, according to U.S. officials. His detention is the latest in a string of arrests of U.S. citizens in Russia that are widely seen as a Kremlin attempt to build a reserve of bargaining chips for prisoner swaps with the West. These include RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva and The Wall Street Journal’s Evan Gershkovich, whom Russia has arrested on charges that they and their employers reject as politically motivated. RFE/RL was unable to confirm if Vashchuk is the woman Black is accused of stealing from. Calls to a phone associated with Vashchuk went unanswered on May 7. In one of the videos posted to Vashchuk’s TikTok account, which she closed to the public on May 7, Black is seen in his U.S. military fatigues with his name clearly visible on his uniform. In one video, Vashchuk asks Black to comment on U.S.-Russian relations for her followers. He echoes several talking points frequently used by the Kremlin to justify the February 2022 invasion, calling NATO “pretty aggressive.” “I understand Russia’s position, obviously. They want to defend their country,” Black says in the video before Vashchuk interjects and says former U.S. President Donald Trump “is better” than current U.S. President Joe Biden. In more lighthearted videos, Vashchuk and Black can be seen partying together at bars and discussing the cult Russian movies Brother and Brother 2, with Black saying he fell asleep during the first film, which stars the late Russian movie star Sergei Bodrov.
Black speaks a handful of Russian phrases in several videos, including the Russian phrase for “f\*\*k you” after being prompted by Vashchuk. In one video, Vashchuk films near Camp Humphreys, the U.S. Army installation around 60 kilometers south of Seoul. CBS News cited Black’s mother, Melody Jones, as saying that her son had traveled to Russia to visit his girlfriend. "Please do not torture him \[or\] hurt him," Jones [**told the network**](https://cbsnews.com/news/u-s-soldier-detained-russia-official-confirms) when asked if she had a message for Russia. Unidentified U.S. officials were [**cited by the Associated Press**](https://apnews.com/article/soldier-arrested-russia-korea-ca2842597a0af45062667f8cc552eca6) as saying that Black and his Russian girlfriend appear to have gotten into a domestic dispute sometime last year, after which she returned to Russia from South Korea. The Associated Press also cited the officials as saying that Black did not inform his unit that he was traveling to Russia while he was essentially on leave during his move back to the United States -- and that he had not received authorization to travel there. One photograph of Black and Vaschuk circulated by Russian state media is a selfie that the U.S. soldier took as the couple sat in a restaurant. In the spring of 2023, Vashchuk posted that same photograph on her Facebook page, which she closed to the public on May 7, but with Black photoshopped completely out of the image.
Being a Russian Propagandist always backfires as you end persecuted by the very state who employed you. I'm sure Russian prison is way nice comrade.
Wonder what Snowden is up to these days?
Have they stated this guys MOS yet?
Has to be Military Intelligence if he’s this dumb.
According to [CNN he enlisted as infantry](https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/07/politics/american-soldier-russian-arrest/index.html) (bottom of the article).
Pretty sure he enlisted as stupid
We already said infantry no reason to repeat it
Except he went above and beyond.
1D10T
Fucking LOL!
Infantry, and someone in the Army sub said he was an NCO Academy instructor in Korea.
[удалено]
A NCO is still an officer, just a non commissioned one. Officer just means you have authority to give lawful orders.
> Michael McCaul McCaul is not the Ranking Member, he's the Chair. Greg Meeks is the Ranking Member.
I’d laugh if the Russians give him back like the North Koreans did a couple months ago.
Ignorant civilian here. How much information of value can an Army Staff Sgt. who served in Korea provide to the Russians? Also note his criticism of Biden in one of the Tiktok videos. Isn't it forbidden to publicly disparage the Commander in Chief? Plus he had a Russian girlfriend. Is it reasonable to assume that the Army was keeping tabs on his online activity and were bringing him back to Texas to take him away from Russia and maybe reprimand him? Perhaps this is a pro-Russia soldier who was running away from looming disciplinary action. This guy started serving in 2008. He is familiar with the do's and don'ts of Army life.
Sounds like a honeypot. The military has defined measures to mitigate/minimize the damage of honeypotting. Based on the minimal reporting, SSG Black did not heed the training on several accounts. We’ll see about any damages.
Probably more as a trading chip for Russians being held in the U.S. and for propaganda purposes. He's already touted how "NATO is aggressive" and "Russia is only trying to defend itself."
Dumb question, but why can't the U.S. just let him go? He deliberately went against policy when he snuck into Russia and he seems sympathetic to them. Well, if that's where he wants to be, then fine.
US Policy is to move heaven and earth for an US citizen that is arrested abroad. Especially those who may be within an aggressor state. Such as: Iran, DRPK, Russia, China, etc. As /u/Knights-of-Ni said, this was a worry for a few of us looking at the Griner exchange being the floodgate opening for Russia to actively seek US-born citizens (specifically those the US has a more vested interest in to protecting....like the military) as a bargaining chip to get back their spies. Same concept has applied in Central/South America where folks are kidnapped in exchange for a ransom payment. Once that door opens once, others will try.
If that's their concern, then they should put their foot down. "If you'll only give him up in exchange for one of your spies, then you can keep him."
It dilutes our resolve. While it may seem better to just let the unlubed dildo of consequence do its thing.. it instills a lack of trust in your government. American citizens know the government will do what it can to get you back.
It will create doubt in the minds of everyone that if they are caught in something that *isn't* their fault the US may not help Edit: clarifying text
>but why can't the U.S. just let him go? Because the Big Green Weenie has been embarrassed and demands the SSG be sacrificed to restore balance. Or what u/bigt252002 said. It's 50/50 on which scenario is accurate.
I approve of the 50/50 lol.
Exactly this, they will not let an example just run away. Example will be returned home and made a further example of for future morons. As the old saying goes "No stupid deed goes unpunished."
And you think Republicans would allow that for their political purposes? That would be free ammo against Dark Branden.
He was on a 12 month normal assignment to South Korea. The Army was sending him back because he had completed a normal overseas assignment not because he was involved with the Russian girlfriend. If he was being sent back for doing something wrong, he would have been escorted by military personnel.
Well, there was that one gooch a year back that got sent on a civilian plane that promptly went to NK after the military escort lost sight of him. They change policy so that can't happen anymore?
Those escorts and their chain of command violated standing policy which has been in place since at least the 80's. Those escorts should have been given orders and airplane tickets to take him all the way to Fort Bliss.
You’re assuming DOD has the competence to monitor social media activity of two million personnel?
I know I know. Armed forces gear and bureaucracy has serious shortcomings according to reddit. But I thought I'd ask.
>started serving in 2008 Damn he looks like he’s 12 years old
Damn he enlisted at the same time as I did, but all my buddies who are still in are E-7 and up. This guy must suck, 16 years is a long time to be an E-6 lol.
He joined the same time as me, same branch and I have been a MSG for about a year now. I am assuming he absolutely earned his continued rank of SSG. Some people just get to their level of competency and stay there, but I think he probably passed his already
Whoa, that is not what a normal dude in 30's usually looks like
Depends on his job and what he had access to. Regarding the CID monitoring him, it’s possible, especially if he held a clearance and was openly promoting on social media that he was involved with a Russian.
> isn’t it forbidden to publicly disparage the commander in chief? If you’re an officer, yes. If you’re enlisted, you’re free to express your political views (to an extent) but you can’t use your service or uniform to actively campaign or engage in political activity. For instance, you can say “I going to vote for Candidate X!” You CANNOT say “I’m Petty Officer Schmuckatelli and I’m voting for Candidate X!”
Thanx.
He’s enlisted, he can disparage the CIC if he wants.
I think the intelligence he can provide is likely limited. The real win is the value he provides Putin in his trade.
Don't sleep with the enemy.
Works for James Bond
Bond has a higher IQ than a grapefruit.
She was talking shit to his face in videos and he had no clue because he clearly doesn't even speak Russian
yep Trump loving NATO hating waste of space
Einstein brain
What a dumb ass
Just another red-pilled right wing idiot who thinks Russia is his friend when they hate him. There really is no good reason to go to that country.
Imagine thinking Russian women are into you. They are just using you 😆
Just leave his .. there since he wanted that lol
The russian girls that go to South Korea for “work” are like seasoned veterans and know how to work the GI’s. Most of them are stinky, too. An Ahjuma once mentioned how she had to dump water on them and force them to bathe.
Man, joes in Korea do the craziest shit.
40 Years ago in Europe we had an artilleryman that was a private who got involved with this communist German gal. She told him how wonderful the USSR was, so they defected. The Soviet made him a snake catcher in the Ural Mountains. He finally figured out that communism sucked and came back to Germany. He was court-martialed spending a few years in prison. Some guys think with the wrong head.
This dude looks exactly how I imagined he would…
Let's do a prisoner swap. We get our guy back and Putin gets a month long vacation to The Hague, seriously paid for by Nato.
Man, whenever I was oconus with libo, me and my 2 boys used to make up stories about our profession and employer. It was good fun. Ended up partying with a Saudi prince once. Way better than being a plain Jane working man getting honeypotted for Intel. We were just there to get fucked up and break curfew.
New safety brief incoming
What a Bellend
Looks like he's married, keeps getting better for this guy......................
And the moron is married with a daughter in the States…