YEKATERINBURG, Russia – A court in Siberia on Thursday rejected an appeal by a Russian-American woman against her detention on a treason charge.
The FSB security service said last week that Ksenia Karelina had been detained on suspicion of raising funds for Ukraine’s armed forces. The Los Angeles resident had been collecting funds for a Ukrainian organization whose ultimate beneficiary was the Ukrainian army, the FSB said.
A Russian lawyers’ group, Pervy Otdel, said it had information that Karelina had donated just over $50 from her U.S. bank account on Feb. 24, 2022 – the day that Russia launched what it calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine – to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine.
Karelina’s lawyer had asked the court to lift her detention and replace it with house arrest, state news agency RIA said.
Pervy Otdel said Karelina was initially detained on Jan. 27 for alleged “petty hooliganism”, and the treason charge was filed later. It carries up to 20 years in prison under Russian law.
Who is Ksenia Karelina, the Russian ballerina accused of treason?
- Amateur ballerina Ksenia Karelina, 32, was arrested in Russia on suspicion of treason, according to Moscow officials.
- The US-Russian dual citizen allegedly donated $51 to Ukraine’s war effort through the organization Razom. According to Russia’s Federal Security Service, Karelina has been “proactively collecting funds in the interests of one of the Ukrainian organizations.”
- The Los Angeles resident manages a spa in Beverly Hills and was in Russia to celebrate New Year’s Eve with her family.
- The dancer faces a sentence of 12 years to life in prison.
Several other Americans including former marine Paul Whelan and journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva are also imprisoned in Russia.
Their supporters say Russia is using them to exert leverage on Washington and eventually to trade them for Russian prisoners in the United States. The Kremlin says the authorities are simply enforcing Russian laws.
