US man handed six-year prison sentence in Russia for trying to take son abroad

A Russian court has handed a six-year prison sentence to an American man convicted on charges linked to his attempt to illegally take his four-year-old son out of Russia, a verdict that comes amid soaring US-Russian tensions.

The court in Russia’s westernmost Kaliningrad region said in a statement that the convict, whose name was not given, visited Kaliningrad in July 2023 to meet with his Russian-born son and attempted to drive him out of the country.

The boy’s mother did not give her consent for that, it said.

The man was detained by Russian border guards near the village of Lipovka close to the border with Poland while trying to covertly leave Russia and charged with abduction of a minor and attempted illegal crossing of the border.

There was no immediate comment from the US Embassy in Moscow.

The case comes as Russia-US ties are at their lowest level since the Cold War era over Moscow’s action in Ukraine.

Several Americans are serving sentences in Russia on drug, theft or assault convictions.

Last month, US-Russian dual national Ksenia Khavana was convicted of treason in a Russian court and sentenced to 12 years in prison on charges stemming from a donation of about 52 dollars to a charity aiding Ukraine.

In the largest Russia-West prisoner exchange since the end of the Cold War on August 1, Moscow released Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and American corporate security executive Paul Whelan, both of whom were imprisoned on espionage convictions.

In exchange for Russian spies held in the West, Moscow also released US-Russian dual national Alsu Kurmasheva, a Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe journalist sentenced to six and a half years for spreading “false information” about the Russian military.

Several prominent opposition figures who were imprisoned for criticising the military operation in Ukraine were also released.