A U.S. soldier was stabbed by his girlfriend during a tumultuous relationship that ended when she accused him of stealing money from her, leading to his arrest in Russia, according to a new report.
Army Staff Sgt. Gordon Black's estranged wife told Reuters that she and their 6-year-old daughter saw a bloody fight erupt between Black and his Russian girlfriend during a surprise video call he made from South Korea months before his May 2 arrest.
The girlfriend, identified by Radio Free Europe as Aleksandra Vashchuk, allegedly clawed at Black's face before pulling a knife, Megan Black said in a report published Sunday.
"She stabbed him," Megan Black said.
Gordon Black, 35, "had blood on his face" and the incident left his daughter distraught, Megan Black said.
Gordon Black's mother, Melody Jones, also told Reuters that her son and Vashchuk, 32, "fought like cats and dogs" after meeting in South Korea, where he was stationed at Camp Humphreys outside Seoul.
"I told them both: You don't need to be together. One of you is going to get hurt one of these days," Jones said. "You know, because if you fight, it's a not a good thing if it's all you do."
Gordon Black was arrested at a hotel in the far eastern Russian city of Vladivostok, where he arrived on April 10, after Vashschuk told police he stole money from her home after an argument.
He's being held in pretrial detention through at least July 2, according to the Pervomaisky District Court in Vladivostok.
Russia's Foreign Ministry has said the case doesn't involve politics or allegations of spying, and the Army didn't respond to a request for comment, Reuters said.
The Pentagon has said Black, who enlisted in the Army in 2008, broke military rules by traveling to Russia without authorization and flew through China to get there.
Megan Black told Reuters that she and her husband were in the process of finalizing a divorce when he was arrested, and that she last heard from him that day, when she got a message "telling me that he wasn't coming home."
She also said their daughter "now looks at her dad as a bad man."
