She will serve her sentence in a general regime colony.
A Russian court has sentenced amateur ballerina Ksenia Karelina to 12 years in prison for treason – she donated $51 to a charity in support of Ukraine.
The BBC reports this.
Karelina, who holds American and Russian citizenship, pleaded guilty last week after a closed-door trial.
She lived in Los Angeles and became a US citizen in 2021. Ksenia was arrested while visiting family in Yekaterinburg in January last year.
Prosecutors had demanded 15 years in prison. A court in Yekaterinburg found her guilty of treason and sentenced her to a prison term in a general regime penal colony.
Russia's FSB accused Karelina of collecting money for a Ukrainian organization that supplied weapons to the Ukrainian military.
Russian human rights activists said that while living in the United States, she made one transfer of $51.80 on the first day of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The FSB is believed to have discovered the transaction on her phone.
Her lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, said Karelina had only admitted to transferring the money and believed the funds would help victims on both sides. He told Russian media she would appeal the verdict.
The Razom for Ukraine charity said earlier this year it was “stunned” by news of the ballerina's arrest and denied raising money for weapons or ammunition. She said she was a U.S.-based charity that focused on humanitarian aid and disaster relief.
Karelina went on trial in June in the same court as Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter jailed for espionage but released earlier this month as part of a major prisoner swap with the U.S. and other Western countries.
The case in Yekaterinburg was heard by the same judge, Andrei Mineyev.
Ksenia Karelina's boyfriend, boxer Chris van Heyerden, said on August 15 that he is very angry with the US State Department.
“I woke up to the news this morning. I'm still sitting here processing what's happening,” he told CBS News. “Two weeks ago there was a prisoner exchange and Ksenia was not on that list,” he said, adding that for the past eight months he had been pushing for her to be sent home. “Ksenia should be home, and I’m angry and trying to keep my composure.”
In an interview with BBC Newshour, Chris said that, in his opinion Karelina should not have returned to Russia at the beginning of the year.
“Now my question is: can we declare Ksenia 'wrongfully detained' today so that when the next exchange happens, she will be part of it?”
When the US declares a person 'wrongfully detained', it means they view them as a political hostage and negotiations are vital to securing their freedom.
He added: “To my surprise, there were two people [in the prisoner exchange] who were not declared 'wrongfully detained' and they were released – so why isn't Ksenia home?”
Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian authorities have cracked down on dissent, with human rights groups alleging that anti-war dissidents have been targeted more than 1,000 criminal cases have been opened. Last year, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree officially increasing the maximum prison term for treason from 20 years to life. According to human rights activists, a record number of treason cases were opened last year.
In July, teenager Kevin Leake, a citizen of Germany and Russia, was sentenced to four years in prison for treason. He was one of 16 men and women released by Russia as part of a prisoner exchange with the West.
Recall that the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmitry Lubinets answered whether there would be a prisoner exchange in the near future “all for all”. The lists of prisoners of war and civilian hostages include people who were imprisoned by the Russians even before the full-scale invasion began – since 2014.
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