Russian Court Imposes 12-Year Sentence on US-Russian Citizen for Treason
In a chilling development amidst rising tensions between Russia and the West, a Russian court has sentenced Ksenia Karelina, an amateur ballerina holding dual American and Russian citizenship, to 12 years in prison for treason.
Karelina, who had been residing in Los Angeles and became a US citizen in 2021, was found guilty after donating $51 (£39) to a Ukrainian charity, which Russian authorities accuse of supporting the Ukrainian military.
Her trial, which took place behind closed doors, ended with a guilty plea last week. The court in Yekaterinburg, a city about 1,600km (1,000 miles) east of Moscow, handed down the sentence, ordering her imprisonment in a general regime penal colony. Russian prosecutors had originally sought a 15-year sentence, accusing Karelina of raising funds for a Ukrainian organization allegedly providing arms to Ukraine’s military.
The arrest has drawn widespread condemnation, including from the charity Razom, which expressed shock and dismay over the verdict. The case also bears resemblance to that of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was also tried in Yekaterinburg for espionage before being released in a high-profile prisoner exchange with the US earlier this year.
Karelina was arrested last January during a family visit to Russia, a move that her boyfriend, South African boxer Chris van Heerden, described as deeply distressing. “I could not for the life of me put myself in her shoes and just even imagine what she is going through,” he said last week, expressing his anxiety over the outcome of the trial.
This case has added fuel to the already strained relations between Moscow and Washington, highlighting the risks faced by dual citizens in the current geopolitical climate.
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Russian Court Imposes 12-Year Sentence on US-Russian Citizen for Treason
