A Russian court sentenced Russian-American dual national Ksenia Karelina to 12 years in prison for treason Thursday after she donated $50 to a Ukrainian-American charity.
Karelina, a 33-year old former ballerina who was living in Los Angeles and became a U.S. citizen in 2021, was first detained in February while visiting relatives in Yekaterinburg, the central Russian city where she’s from.
Russia’s lead security agency, the FSB, alleged Karelina “collected money in the interests of one of the Ukrainian organizations, which was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” according to the exiled, independent Russian-language news publication Meduza.
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They also accused her of “repeatedly” joining public events in support of Ukraine.
But, according to Pervy Otdel (Department One), a human rights law group set up by exiled lawyer Ivan Pavlov, the extent of evidence in her case was merely one $51.80 bank transfer from her American account to Razom, a Ukrainian-American human rights non-profit.
Pervy Otdel said that, according to Karelina’s lawyer Mikhail Mushailov, she was originally detained on charges of “petty hooliganism” and put under administrative arrest for 14 days. This is when, he says, they seized and “hacked” her phone, finding evidence to lay harsher charges.
Mushailov said he plans to appeal the verdict against his client, and told Meduza that the court ordered the destruction of Ksenia’s phone, raising the question of how material evidence was handled.
State prosecutors demanded Karelina be jailed for 15 years at her June trial, which was held at the same court as Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was freed as part of a prisoner swap earlier this month after he was falsely convicted of espionage charges.
In fact, the same judge that heard Gershkovich’s case, Andrei Mineev, rendered her 12-year sentence, to be served at a penal colony. She was also fined 300,000 rubles ($3,375).
“Razom is appalled by reports that a U.S.-Russian dual national has been arrested by Russian authorities for purportedly making a charitable donation to Razom for Ukraine in the immediate aftermath of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine,” said the non-profit, in a statement. “Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly shown that he holds no sovereign border, foreign nationality, or international treaty above his own narrow interest.”
Earlier this month, the U.S. and Russia completed their largest prisoner swap since the collapse of the Soviet Union, with 24 people including Gerskovich, former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, and a Russian hitman changing hands.
Karelina’s sentencing comes just a day after Moscow’s Meshchansky district detained another American national, identified as Joseph Tater, for 15 days over suspicions he attacked a police officer.
Karelina’s boyfriend, the South African pro boxer Chris van Heerden, expressed his frustration that she wasn’t included in that prisoner swap to CBS News Thursday.
“Ksenia should be home, and I’m angry, and I’m trying to hold my composure,” he told the broadcaster.
