US citizen detained in Russia on charges of drug possession - media
Kyiv • UNN
Robert Woodland, a US citizen, faces up to 20 years in a Russian prison on charges of drug possession.
A US citizen has been detained in Russia on charges of drug possession, for which he faces up to 20 years in prison, a Moscow court said on Tuesday, Reuters reports, according to UNN.
Details
On January 6, Robert Romanov Woodland was taken into custody until March 5 on charges of illegal acquisition or possession of drugs.
Russian Telegram channel Mash reported that Woodland, 32, was charged with attempting to produce and sell illegal drugs on a large scale. He was detained on January 5, according to Mash.
Robert Woodland's Facebook page states that he worked as an English teacher in Russia and lived outside of Moscow.
Woodland, who was known to his friends as "Rob," was adopted by U.S. citizens from an orphanage in Perm, in the Urals, in 1993 and moved to the United States. He later returned to Russia.
As noted, he probably has both Russian and American passports.
Addendum
The United States says several of its citizens are illegally imprisoned in Russia, including Marine Corps veteran Paul Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.
The State Department has repeatedly warned all Americans to leave Russia immediately , citing the risk of unlawful detention and persecution by Russian intelligence services.
