The mother of the US soldier in custody in Russia is convinced her son “was lured” there by his girlfriend.
Staff Sgt. Gordon D. Black, 34, was arrested in the Pacific port city of Vladivostok on May 2.
He remains in custody there on charges of “theft of personal property.”
“I think she convinced him to come there,” Melody Jones told NBC News of her son’s girlfriend, Aleksandra Vashchuk.
Black reportedly traveled to Vladivostok on his own after wrapping up a tour of duty as an Army trainer in South Korea on April 10.
He was supposed to leave the foreign base and go directly to his next station in Texas, Army spokeswoman Cynthia Smith told The Post Tuesday.
“He wanted to see her for the last time before going home, and so he went there,” Jones insisted of her son’s motivation for traveling to a country where multiple Americans — including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich — are held against their will.
“I was worried about him going, because the government there has been grabbing Americans,” Jones lamented.
“I told him not to go. I was more worried about him going to Russia than I was when he was in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Black — who is in the middle of a divorce from his wife back in the States — met Vashchuk “at a bar where she was working,” Jones told NBC.
“They’ve been together, on and off, for about a year and a half. I’ve never met her in person, but I’ve spoken to her over Messenger,” the worried mom added.
“My motherly instincts told me something was wrong with her.”
Jones said her son, meanwhile, is “a good boy with a cute, crooked smile.”
“He was a good soldier, too,” and speaks Russian fluently, she boasted.
Unearthed videos from Vashchuk’s TikTok account showed Black saying he empathized with Russia in the Ukraine war and disavowing NATO.
“I think NATO is pretty aggressive,” Black said in one video. “Honestly, I understand Russia’s position. Obviously, they want to defend their country.”
When he landed in Vladivostok, however, the 16-year Army vet was pulled off the plane and arrested for supposedly stealing property from a person identified as “citizen T,” NBC said, citing a statement from Pervomaisky District Court spokeswoman Elena Oleneva.
He is expected to be held there for at least two months.
The last thing Black was able to text his mother was ‘Don’t worry about me, I’m OK,’” Jones said.
She added that she had not heard from any officials since an initial call from the State Department informing her that her son — who had her listed as his emergency contact — had been detained.
As the family waits for more information, Jones said she worries about her son’s 6-and-a-half-year-old daughter.
“She misses her daddy,” Jones told NBC.
“Gordon used to call me at least once a week. And he usually sends me flowers on Mother’s Day. The last time it was two dozen red roses. But I guess not this year.”
