A Russian court has sentenced a U.S. citizen to six years in prison for attempting to illegally take his young son, a Russian national, out of the country, officials reported on Monday.
In recent years, Russia has detained several American nationals on various charges, including espionage, assaulting law enforcement, theft, and family-related conflicts.
The incident took place in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, where a local court found the unnamed man guilty of kidnapping after he allegedly attempted to take his four-year-old son across the border into Poland in July 2023.
According to a statement posted by the court on Telegram, the man tried to remove the child from the country without the mother’s consent.
Authorities say he drove toward the Polish border with the child before abandoning his car and attempting to cross the frontier on foot through a forested and swampy area. He was apprehended by border guards during the attempt.
