WASHINGTON, May 7 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Army has opened an administrative investigation to gather facts related to a U.S. soldier recently detained in Russia while traveling there for personal reasons, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told a press briefing that the soldier at the center of the incident, Staff Sergeant Gordon Black, was enlisted as an infantryman in the U.S. Army in 2008. He out-processed from his most recent station at Eighth Army, U.S. Forces Korea, on April 10 and should have returned to a military base in Texas.

Instead of going back to the United States, Black, according to Singh, flew from South Korea, through China, to the Far East Russian city of Vladivostok, where he is now held in a pretrial detention facility and will remain there until the next court hearing.

Black is accused of "committing secret theft of the property of a citizen T., causing significant damage to the latter," CNN reported Tuesday, citing a statement from Pervomaisky District Court of Vladivostok. He will remain in detention until July 2.

"The Army has opened an administrative investigation to determine the facts and the circumstances surrounding his travel," Singh said of Black, adding that whether he will face any disciplinary action as a consequence of his unauthorized travel to Russia depends on what will yield from the Army's probe.

Black was not authorized by the Defense Department to travel to Russia and did not request official clearance to do so when he left his unit in South Korea, CNN said in its report, citing Army Spokesperson Cynthia Smith.

Singh at the press briefing dodged several follow-up questions asking such specifics as whether the Pentagon had any suspicion or concern that Black potentially compromised U.S. intelligence information while in Russia. She said she had no further information to share as the investigation was still underway.

Black's detention in Russia came at a time when tensions between Washington and Moscow are running extremely high. The Joe Biden administration has been seeking the release and repatriation of several individuals held in Russia, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, a former member of the U.S. Marine Corps.

Citing a Russian Foreign Ministry representative, Russia's Itar-Tass news agency reported Tuesday that what Black committed was "a purely domestic crime," and that his case was "not related to politics or espionage." Enditem

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