Married US soldier jailed for four years in Russia after ‘tempestuous’ love affair turns sour

U.S. soldier jailed for nearly four yearsFound guilty of threatening to kill girlfriendGordon Black had travelled from South Korea to Russia

Gordon Black, a U.S. Army staff sergeant, who was detained in Russia on May 2 on suspicion of stealing from a woman he was in a relationship with, appears in a court in Vladivostok, Russia, June 19, 2024. REUTERS/Tatiana Meel

Lidia Kelly and Guy Faulconbridge

A U.S. soldier was sentenced on Wednesday to nearly four years in a Russian penal colony after being found guilty by a Russian court of stealing $113 from his girlfriend and making threats to kill her, a Reuters witness reported from the courtroom.

The judgement brings an end to a tempestuous love story that brought together - and then tore apart - a married U.S. staff sergeant and a Russian woman after an international romance that stretched from South Korea to Russia.