American Youtuber Tommy "Sabbatical" jailed for weeks in Russia in the same place Mr. Bald was. I watched the whole thing. Sad.
He was told he would be fined for being within 20 km of the border without a permit. Then they viewed his mostly pro Russian videos and found the word "invasion" so charged him with discrediting the military. Then perhaps with resisting arrest. Confusing. He spent 15 days in jail.
Tommy got arrested outside
Birobidzhan when out wandering without his passport and filming a bridge near the Chinese border.
He references Mr. Bald and says he was held in the same police station/jail.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZzXEJ3bcw4Birobidzhan reminds me of evil so called "speed traps' in the old US South. They would trap northerners passing through and shake them down. Sometimes with jail terms until they could pay up. This place looked into the blog history of Mr. Bald and Sabbatical and found something to charge them with. Why this place? Why could they travel elsewhere in Russia without problems?
Note that the Russian Chinese border is no longer contested and is the Amur River where he was arrested and also in Blagoveshchensk which is on a major RR line. Just because the Russian govt can find a law to charge him with does mean they have to. This was a PR loss for the Russians that was not needed.
Here is the Russian Chinese border in Blagoveshchensk. China is in the background across the Amur River. . It is often filmed. Video bloggers have traveled to Blagoveshchensk before. Did they need a permit?
https://youtu.be/fV21wD3Hj0M?list=PLzChrYwMj8FaBjvXhbfhDdtobIARAbcwO