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RIGA, Latvia — Russian authorities have arrested a 32-year-old Russian-U.S. citizen over alleged drug expenses, the Moscow court docket press service reported Tuesday.
The twin citizen, Robert Romanov Woodland, was born in Russia, adopted as a toddler by an American couple and returned to reside in Russia in 2020. He was detained Friday, based on an announcement by the Ostankinsky District Court docket in Moscow, and ordered jailed till March 5 on expenses of “unlawful acquisition, storage, transportation, manufacture, processing of narcotic medication.”
Romanov Woodland labored as an English instructor, based on a Fb profile bearing his title and start date. He was adopted as an orphan from Perm by the American couple, Marcia and David Woodland, when he was 2 years outdated in 1993, he informed the Moscow newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda in December 2020.
He stated his title at start was Roman Romanov and that his start date was Dec. 7, 1991. He moved completely again to Russia in 2020, based on the Fb profile and the newspaper interview.
“The reality is that I’m not an American in any respect, however a Russian,” he stated, the newspaper quoted him as saying.
The U.S. State Division has accused Russian authorities of improperly detaining two Individuals in Russia. Evan Gershkovich, 33, a Wall Avenue Journal reporter, was arrested final yr and accused of spying. Paul Whelan, 53, a safety advisor, was jailed in 2018 and convicted of spying and sentenced to a 16-year jail time period in 2020. Each males and the State Division have strongly denied the fees.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin stated final month that Russian and U.S. officers have been engaged in talks over Gershkovich however denied stories that Moscow had rejected a suggestion to free him. White Home Nationwide Safety Council spokesman John Kirby has stated talks have been underway concerning Gershkovich and Whelan.
WNBA star Brittney Griner was arrested in February 2022 for carrying vape oil containing traces of hashish. She was convicted in August that yr and sentenced to 9½ years in jail. In December 2020, she was exchanged for Russian arms trafficker Victor Bout, who was convicted and imprisoned in the US.
The State Division didn’t instantly touch upon Romanov Woodland’s arrest.
Russian Telegram media outlet MASH, identified to be near Russian legislation enforcement, reported that the case in opposition to Woodland Romanov is expounded to unlawful drug manufacturing, carrying a potential time period of as much as 20 years in jail.
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Romanov Woodland informed Komsomolskaya Pravda that his mother and father, American scientists, adopted him after seeing a video of him enjoying within the orphanage and that they cherished him and an adopted sister “very a lot.” After school, he bought a job washing dishes in a hospital kitchen.
He tracked down his start mom, Galina Romanova, along with his adoptive mother and father’ help and was reunited together with her on a Russian state tv program. He returned briefly to the US earlier than shifting again to Russia completely. He informed Komsomolskaya Pravda that he missed his American household and phoned them usually.
In August 2021, based on an Instagram profile in his title linked to the Fb profile, he acquired a Russian passport. In 2022, when Russia mobilized greater than 300,000 males to combat in Ukraine, Romanov Woodland posted a message to household and buddies on Fb saying that he didn’t help the struggle however that if mobilized, “I cannot flip away.”
In accordance with the Fb profile, Romanov Woodland attended Saranac Lake Senior Excessive College in northern New York state and Massanutten Army Academy in Virginia and labored as a prep prepare dinner at Dillon Dam Brewery in 2020 earlier than shifting to Russia.
Natalia Abbakumova contributed to this report.