American convicted of drug offenses in Russia loses appeal

MOSCOW — A court in the Russian capital on Tuesday rejected an American citizen’s appeal against his sentence on drug charges.

In July, Moscow’s Ostankino District Court sentenced Robert Woodland, a Russian-born U.S. citizen, to 12½ years in prison for attempted drug trafficking. The Moscow City Court on Tuesday upheld the verdict and rejected Woodland’s appeal.

Russian media reported that his name matches a U.S. citizen interviewed in 2020 who said he was born in the Perm region of the Ural Mountains in 1991 and was adopted by an American couple at the age of two. He said he traveled to Russia to find his mother and eventually met her on a television show. According to Russian media reports, Woodland also has Russian citizenship.

Arrests of Americans in Russia are becoming increasingly common as relations between Moscow and Washington sink to Cold War lows over fighting in Ukraine. Washington accuses Moscow of targeting its citizens and using them as political bargaining chips, but Russian officials insist they have all broken the law.

Some were exchanged for Russians held in the United States, while for others the prospect of being released in a swap is less clear.