A U.S. citizen has been arrested on drug charges in Russia, officials said Tuesday, a move that comes amid soaring Russia-U.S. tensions over Ukraine.
The arrest of Robert Woodland Romanov was reported by the press service of the Moscow courts. It said the Ostankino District Court ruled on Saturday to keep him in custody for two months on charges of preparing to get involved in illegal drug trafficking pending an official investigation. It didn’t offer any details of the accusations.
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Analysts have pointed out that Moscow could be using jailed Americans as bargaining chips amid U.S.-Russian tensions that soared when Russia sent troops into Ukraine. At least two U.S. citizens arrested in Russia in recent years — including WNBA star Brittney Griner — have been exchanged for Russians jailed in the U.S.
So this guy was interviewed in 2020, where he says he came to Russia looking for his birth mother, found her via a TV show, liked it in Russia, decided to stay there. Russia invaded Crimea in 2014, that was already known when he went there and decided to stay. Russia invaded Ukraine in Feb 2022, over a year at least since he’d been there, and he didn’t leave: not at that moment, and not at any moment as Russia kept on with its war. We don’t know exactly when he was arrested, but it seems that the US State Dept found out about it about a month ago.
I’m not saying the charges are fair, and I’m not saying that Russia isn’t just trying to use this guy as a bargaining chip. But this situation really seems like one that could have been avoided before it got to this point. Pretty sure the State Dept would have helped him leave before it came to this, if that’s what he wanted. That really doesn’t make him a super valuable chip.
Yeah fuck this guy. He made his own bed, now he has to lie in it. I hope the US doesn’t give up anything to get this guy out.