A Russian court has sentenced an American-Russian ballerina to 12 years in prison for “high treason” for allegedly transferring funds to a Ukrainian charity in February 2022, the same year that Russia launched a full-scale invasion of the country.
Los Angeles resident Ksenia Karelina was visiting family in Russia when investigators searched her phone and found that she had donated $51.80 to Ukrainian charities in the U.S., according to a statement posted on Facebook by the spa where she previously worked.
Ksenia Karelina sits in the defendant’s cage in a courtroom in Yekaterinburg, Russia, Thursday, June 20, 2024. STR/AP File
Authorities have not acknowledged the amount, and NBC News was not able to independently verify the amount or nature of the donation. The sentence against the 33-year-old ballerina is the latest in a series of detentions of Western nationals in Russia and comes against the backdrop of Russia’s 2-1/2-year-old war with Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on dissent since the war began, banning anything perceived as criticism of the military.
Earlier this month, Russia released four U.S. residents, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, a security executive for a U.S. company, in the largest prisoner swap since the end of the Cold War.
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Karelina’s donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons and ammunition for the Ukrainian Armed Forces”.
The 33-year-old woman “fully admitted her guilt” during a closed trial in the southwestern Russian city of Yekaterinberg on Wednesday, according to a press release from the Sverdlovsky Regional Court.
She was fined 300,000 rubles ($3,361) and the sentence will take effect within 15 days unless both parties appeal.
According to the Associated Press, Karelina was born in Russia but has dual U.S. and Russian citizenship and came to the U.S. to study at the University of Maryland in Baltimore before moving to Los Angeles.
