Russian American to serve 12 years in prison over $50 donation to Ukraine charity

Posted by author August 15, 2024 World

Russian American to serve 12 years in prison over donation to Ukraine charity

A Russian court accused Ksenia Karelina of donating about $50 to a group supporting Ukraine’s army. She and her supporters say the money went to a charity providing humanitarian aid.

A Russian court sentenced a dual Russian American citizen to 12 years in prison Thursday for treason after finding her guilty of giving money to a group supporting Ukraine’s armed forces, according to reports.

The funds that Ksenia Karelina, 33, donated – totaling little more than $50 – were “used to purchase tactical medicine, equipment, weapons and ammunition” for Ukraine, the court claimed.

Though Karelina, who is from Yekaterinburg and lives in Los Angeles, pleaded guilty, the woman and her supporters have insisted the money was sent to a charity supporting humanitarian efforts in the war-torn country that Russia invaded in 2022.

The sentencing came Thursday at a closed trial in Yekaterinburg in central Russia, where Karelina’s case was heard by the same court that in July convicted Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich of espionage.

Karelina sentenced 2 weeks after major prisoner swap

Karelina, a spa worker and trained ballet dancer, appeared in court in a white sweatshirt and blue jeans, sitting calmly in a glass courtroom cage, Reuters reported.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB,) the country’s main domestic intelligence agency, had accused Karelina of collecting funds for the Ukrainian army following her February arrest. Her family and other supports, however, said she donated $51.80 to a charity raising money for humanitarian relief for Ukrainians impacted by the war.

The money went to Razom for Ukraine, a New York-based charity that provides aid to children and elderly people in the country. The charity has denied it provides any military support to Kyiv, Reuters reported.

Karelina’s sentencing comes about two weeks after 16 prisoners, including Gershkovich, were released by the Kremlin as part of one of the most significant East-West prisoner exchanges since the Cold War. As part of the exchange, eight individuals held in the U.S., Germany, Norway, Slovenia and Poland were returned to Russia.

Ever since Russia launched its devastating war with Ukraine, Moscow has ramped up efforts to detain Americans in hopes of using them in prisoner exchanges amid increased tensions between the United States and Russia.

While Karelina was not included in the prisoner swap, her lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, has said she hoped to be included in a future exchange, Reuters reported.

Karelina arrested in January while visiting family in Russia

Karelina’s arrest, announced on Feb. 20, came as a shock to her family and friends in the U.S., who said she was never interested in political activism, according to Reuters.

Born in Russia, Karelina emigrated to the United States in 2012 for a work-study program to pursue dancing as a ballerina, according to the website www.freeksenia.com. She moved from Baltimore to Los Angeles in 2017 and worked at a spa in Beverly Hills before becoming an American citizen in 2021.

Karelina was arrested in January initially on hooliganism charges after flying to Russia to visit her family in Yekaterinburg, including her 90-year-old grandmother, according to freeksenia.com. While she was jailed for 15 days, FSB authorities interrogated Karelina and searched her cellphone to find a 2022 Venmo donation to Razom for Ukraine.

Just before Karelina was set to be released, she was charged with state treason.

FSB announced the arrest the following month with a statement accusing Karelina, who the agency did not name, of “providing financial assistance to a foreign state in activities directed against the security of our country.”

Contributing: Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY; Reuters

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com