Megan Black said her husband’s trip to Russia was “ill-advised” but simply part of an extramarital affair. Black’s mother said she thought he had been set up by his girlfriend.

The wife of Gordon Black, the American soldier detained on theft charges in Russia, said he traveled there because he was having an affair and was not involved in “geopolitical intrigue.”

Megan Black is in the process of divorcing her husband and called on Russian authorities through a statement from her attorney, Brett Pritchard, to release him to provide comfort to their 6-year-old daughter.

She said she had no knowledge of his trip to Vladivostok in eastern Russia until an Army investigation branch official contacted her asking for information on what was at first a missing person inquiry, and only learned about the details of the trip after NBC News broke the story of his detention Monday.

“Nevertheless, Megan Black firmly believes that Mr. Black’s decision to travel to Russia, while ill-advised, was motivated by entirely personal reasons involving an extra-marital affair,” her lawyer said in the statement Thursday.

  • Admiral Patrick
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    4 months ago

    Is there a Wikipedia list of international incidents caused by inability to keep it in your pants? If not, there should be.

  • @[email protected]
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    344 months ago

    You gotta hand it to her. She has the opportunity to help throw him under a bus, and she was the bigger person.

    • @Pretzilla
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      104 months ago

      Well, she said ‘comfort’ and sure, but it’s also support, as in child support

      • @HessiaNerd
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        14 months ago

        I’m not 100% but I’m pretty sure the army will make sure the kid is taken care of regardless. They don’t allow deadbeat dads.

          • @SkyezOpen
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            14 months ago

            Well he’s still technically in the army so he should get paid, and seeing as he’s indisposed at the moment, no reason why it shouldn’t go to her. Unless he took her off his beneficiary list, though I doubt he did.

        • @Zahille7
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          24 months ago

          Lol what are you talking about?

          • @HessiaNerd
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            14 months ago

            They will garnish your wages. As a service member you don’t have the same rights in court. If parentage is established, the military just starts sending a chunk of your paycheck to the custodial parent.

            • @Zahille7
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              14 months ago

              That doesn’t mean Jack to a lot of deadbeats. Hence the name “deadbeat”

              • @HessiaNerd
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                14 months ago

                Do you know what it is to garnish wages? They just cut a check to the custodial parent. The would be deadbeat grunt just doesn’t get his money to make payments on a jixer or Camero or whatever.

    • kamenLady.
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      44 months ago

      Also thinking about her daughter’s well-being in all this - all in all not your average kind of person.

  • Echo Dot
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    234 months ago

    Yeah, well we’ve all been there. Who among us can resist the international femme fatale of a hostile nation state?

    • Echo Dot
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      84 months ago

      Perhaps none of the women in any other nationality were interested in him.

      • Vanon
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        94 months ago

        Aw. And neither was this “woman”, who it seems was just Russian ops trying to lure another dumb American hostage.

  • @lennybird
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    4 months ago

    Not all the Russian honeypot and money in the world could convince me to step foot in that shithole of a nation.

  • @[email protected]
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    114 months ago

    Seems worth noting he’s not being charged with anything spying or geopolitics related, but instead he’s been charged with theft. No details in the article about what he’s accused of having stolen. Seems like almost the only notable fact in this whole story is his being a US soldier in Russia, otherwise there’s a ton of Americans accused of pretty crimes while abroad every day.

    • FuglyDuck
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      164 months ago

      I suspect it’s about to become another american-held-hostage thing; like with Greiner.

        • FuglyDuck
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          44 months ago

          do we have another high profile arms dealer?

          I hope we don’t trade one either. Or something as bad.

    • @Maggoty
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      4 months ago

      If he actually committed theft in Russia then that’s hilarious. But this could easily be Russia playing it low key until they need a US spy headline for domestic consumption.