MOSCOW (AP) — A U.S. citizen is facing criminal assault charges in Russia after allegedly attacking a police officer in a Moscow hotel, Russian news agencies reported Wednesday.
The reports cited Russia’s Investigative Committee as saying the American became abusive after being asked to show his documents at an upscale hotel on Monday evening. The Investigative Committee did not give the American’s name; news reports citing unnamed sources gave several variants of the name.
The arrested person is to appear in court on Thursday, facing charges of using violence against a government official that could bring five years in prison, the reports said.
Several Americans are serving sentences in Russia on drugs or theft convictions.
A U.S.-Russian dual national, Ksenia Khavana, is expected to be sentenced on Thursday after pleading guilty in a closed trial to raising money for Ukraine’s military; prosecutors called for a 15-year term.
In the largest Russia-West prisoner exchange since the end of the Cold War, Russia this month released Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and American corporate security executive Paul Whelan, both of whom were imprisoned on espionage convictions. Russia also released U.S.-Russian dual national Alsu Kurmasheva, a Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe journalist sentenced to 6 1/2 years for spreading “false information” about the Russian military.