Overview

• Robert Woodland, 32, was arrested in Moscow in January and found guilty of trafficking large quantities of illegal drugs.
• Woodland's lawyer stated he partially confessed to the charges but plans to appeal the verdict.
• The US State Department has warned Americans against traveling to Russia due to risks of wrongful detention.
• Woodland's case is part of a broader pattern of increasing detentions of US citizens in Russia amidst deteriorating US-Russia relations.
• Woodland had returned to Russia in 2020 to find his birth mother, a journey documented on Russian TV.