A U.S. citizen has been charged with criminal assault in Russia after allegedly attacking a police officer at a Moscow hotel, Russian news agencies reported Wednesday.
According to reports, Russia’s Investigative Committee said the American became violent after being asked to show his documents at an upscale hotel on Monday night.
“On the night of August 12, 2024, a U.S. citizen was brought to the Moscow police station in connection with his hooliganism,” the committee said in a statement. “The suspect refused to provide his identity documents, after which he used violence against a law enforcement officer.”
The investigative committee did not reveal the name of the American; press reports citing anonymous sources gave several variations of the name.
The arrested person is due to appear in court on Thursday, charged with using violence against a government official, which could land him in prison for up to five years, according to reports.
In May, a Moscow court ruled that he had sentenced a US citizen to 10 days in prison in custody for minor hooliganism after allegedly drunkenly stumbling into a children’s library and passing out.
Several other Americans are currently serving sentences in Russia for drug trafficking or theft.
A dual American and Russian national, Ksenia Khavanais set to be sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty in a closed trial to raising money for the Ukrainian military; prosecutors have asked for a 15-year sentence.
Earlier this year, former world boxing champion and Khavana’s boyfriend, Chris Van Heerden, spoke to CBS News about the fight to bring her back.
Van Heerden said he and Khavana met in 2020 in Los Angeles and had been a couple for six months. The couple celebrated the New Year together in Istanbul, Turkey, before Khavana flew to his family’s hometown of Yekaterinburg, Russia, about 1,700 kilometers east of Moscow.
“She was so happy to go home because she misses her grandparents,” Van Heerden said. “That’s why I bought that ticket. I bought her that ticket and I’m really angry with myself, but I didn’t know that.”
In the largest Prisoner exchange between Russia and the West Since the end of the Cold War, Russia has released a Wall Street Journal reporter this month Evan Gershkovich and US Corporate Security Officer Paul Whelanboth jailed for espionage. Russia also released the dual U.S.-Russian national Alsou KurmashevaRadio Liberty/Radio Free Europe journalist sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison for spreading “false information” about the Russian military.
The three returned to the United States as part of a 24-person prisoner exchange between the United States, Russia, Germany and three other countries.
AFP contributed to this report.
