A Russian court has sentenced a U.S.-Russian ballerina to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason,” accusing her of transferring funds to a Ukrainian charity in February 2022 when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Ksenia Karelina, 33, who is based in Los Angeles, was visiting family in Russia when investigators searched her phone and found that she had donated funds to a Ukrainian charity. A spa where she had previously worked said in a statement on Facebook that Karelina given $51.80 to a Ukrainian charity in the U.S.
Authorities have not confirmed that figure, and NBC News was not able to independently verify the sum or the nature of the alleged donation.
Karelina’s sentencing, the latest in a series of detentions of citizens of Western nations in Russia, comes against the backdrop of Russia’s 2½-year-long war with Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on dissent since the war began, and any perceived criticism of the military is banned.
Russia released four U.S. residents this month, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and American corporate security executive Paul Whelan, in the largest prisoner exchange since the end of the Cold War.
Karelina’s defense lawyer, Mikhai Mushailov, said that Karelina would appeal the sentence and that he would take “all legally significant actions” to work toward a prisoner swap.
Russia’s Federal Security Service said Karelina’s donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”
Karelina “fully admitted her guilt” at a closed trial in the city of Yekaterinberg, in southwestern Russia, on Wednesday, the Sverdlovsky Region Court said in a news release.
Mushailov said Karelina “did not presume” that her money would be redirected for anti-Russian actions.
Her sentence is accompanied by a fine of 300,000 rubles ($3,361), and the verdict will go into effect in 15 days unless it is appealed.
Karelina, who was born in Russia, is a dual U.S.-Russian citizen, having come to the U.S. to study at the University of Maryland in Baltimore before she relocated to Los Angeles, according to The Associated Press.
Freddie Clayton
Freddie Clayton is a freelance journalist based in London.
