Russian citizen Karelina sentenced to 12 years for donating money charity supporting Ukraine
White House calls sentence ‘vindictive cruelty over 50 bucks’
15 August 2024 - 15:01
byLucy Papachristou
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Russian-American dual citizen Ksenia Karelina, accused of treason for making a donation to a charity supporting Ukraine, attends a court hearing in Yekaterinburg, Russia August 15, 2024. Picture: REUTERS/Dmitry Chasovitin
Yekaterinburg — A Russian court sentenced a dual Russian-American citizen, Ksenia Karelina, to 12 years in prison on Thursday after finding her guilty of treason for donating money to a charity supporting Ukraine.
The Los Angeles resident, a spa worker, pleaded guilty at her closed trial in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, where her case was heard by the same court that convicted Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich of espionage in July.
The court said investigators found that on February 24 2022 — the first day of Russia's invasion of Ukraine — Karelina had “transferred funds in the interests of a Ukrainian organisation, which were subsequently used for the purchase of tactical medicine items, equipment, means of defeat and ammunition by the Armed Forces of Ukraine”.
Her supporters say she had donated $51.80 to Razom for Ukraine, a New York-based charity that provides humanitarian aid to children and elderly people in Ukraine. The charity has denied it provides any military support to Kyiv.
Karelina, 33, appeared in court on Thursday in a white sweatshirt and blue jeans, sitting calmly in a glass courtroom cage.
She was not included in a major prisoner swap between Russia and the West two weeks ago that freed Gershkovich, but her lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, has said she hoped to be included in a future exchange.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby called the sentencing cruel and said the US would continue to seek consular access to her and press for her release.
“It’s nothing less than vindictive cruelty. We’re talking about 50 bucks to try to alleviate the suffering of the people in Ukraine, and to call that treason is just absolutely ridiculous,” Kirby told reporters.
Her boyfriend, Christopher van Heerden, said this month that he has been in contact with both the state department and the US embassy in Moscow about securing her release.
“What about this is not wrongful?” said Van Heerden, a professional boxer from SA, who met Karelina four years ago and planned to propose to her after she returned from visiting her family in Russia.
“She’s facing 12 years in prison for a $51 donation that she made as an American citizen on American soil.”
Karelina was born in Russia and emigrated to the US in 2012 via a work-study program, receiving American citizenship in 2021. She was arrested by the FSB security service after flying to Russia to visit her family in Yekaterinburg at the start of the year.
Problems began immediately for Karelina when she arrived in Russia using her US passport. Authorities interrogated her and took her cellphone on which they found the 2022 donation to the charity, Razom for Ukraine, on her Venmo account, according to the website www.freeksenia.com.
The FSB interrogated her for up to two hours during mandatory weekly check-ins and banned her from leaving the city, the website says.
Three days before she was due to return to Los Angeles, Karelina was arrested on a hooliganism charges and jailed for 15 days.
Just before her release, she was slapped with a state treason charge. Acquittals for serious crimes are nearly unheard of in Russia.
Karelina's family and friends in the US have described her as someone who didn't much care for politics and said they were shocked by her arrest.
Unlike in the cases of Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan, who was also freed in the swap this month, Karelina has not been designated by Washington as “wrongfully detained”, a label that would open up diplomatic avenues to negotiate a prisoner exchange.
The US state department, which advises Americans not to travel to Russia, said it reiterated its “strong warnings” about the danger they face there and urged any US citizens currently in the country to leave.
In a separate development, the Moscow court service said on Thursday that another American, Joseph Tater, had been placed in pretrial detention until October 14 on a charge of assaulting a police officer. He is already serving a 15-day prison sentence for abusing staff in a Moscow hotel, which he denied, and could face up to five years if convicted on the assault charge.
Update: August 15 2024 This story has been updated with new information.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Russian citizen Karelina sentenced to 12 years for donating money charity supporting Ukraine
White House calls sentence ‘vindictive cruelty over 50 bucks’
Yekaterinburg — A Russian court sentenced a dual Russian-American citizen, Ksenia Karelina, to 12 years in prison on Thursday after finding her guilty of treason for donating money to a charity supporting Ukraine.
The Los Angeles resident, a spa worker, pleaded guilty at her closed trial in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, where her case was heard by the same court that convicted Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich of espionage in July.
The court said investigators found that on February 24 2022 — the first day of Russia's invasion of Ukraine — Karelina had “transferred funds in the interests of a Ukrainian organisation, which were subsequently used for the purchase of tactical medicine items, equipment, means of defeat and ammunition by the Armed Forces of Ukraine”.
Her supporters say she had donated $51.80 to Razom for Ukraine, a New York-based charity that provides humanitarian aid to children and elderly people in Ukraine. The charity has denied it provides any military support to Kyiv.
Karelina, 33, appeared in court on Thursday in a white sweatshirt and blue jeans, sitting calmly in a glass courtroom cage.
She was not included in a major prisoner swap between Russia and the West two weeks ago that freed Gershkovich, but her lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, has said she hoped to be included in a future exchange.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby called the sentencing cruel and said the US would continue to seek consular access to her and press for her release.
“It’s nothing less than vindictive cruelty. We’re talking about 50 bucks to try to alleviate the suffering of the people in Ukraine, and to call that treason is just absolutely ridiculous,” Kirby told reporters.
Her boyfriend, Christopher van Heerden, said this month that he has been in contact with both the state department and the US embassy in Moscow about securing her release.
“What about this is not wrongful?” said Van Heerden, a professional boxer from SA, who met Karelina four years ago and planned to propose to her after she returned from visiting her family in Russia.
“She’s facing 12 years in prison for a $51 donation that she made as an American citizen on American soil.”
Karelina was born in Russia and emigrated to the US in 2012 via a work-study program, receiving American citizenship in 2021. She was arrested by the FSB security service after flying to Russia to visit her family in Yekaterinburg at the start of the year.
Problems began immediately for Karelina when she arrived in Russia using her US passport. Authorities interrogated her and took her cellphone on which they found the 2022 donation to the charity, Razom for Ukraine, on her Venmo account, according to the website www.freeksenia.com.
The FSB interrogated her for up to two hours during mandatory weekly check-ins and banned her from leaving the city, the website says.
Three days before she was due to return to Los Angeles, Karelina was arrested on a hooliganism charges and jailed for 15 days.
Just before her release, she was slapped with a state treason charge. Acquittals for serious crimes are nearly unheard of in Russia.
Karelina's family and friends in the US have described her as someone who didn't much care for politics and said they were shocked by her arrest.
Unlike in the cases of Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan, who was also freed in the swap this month, Karelina has not been designated by Washington as “wrongfully detained”, a label that would open up diplomatic avenues to negotiate a prisoner exchange.
The US state department, which advises Americans not to travel to Russia, said it reiterated its “strong warnings” about the danger they face there and urged any US citizens currently in the country to leave.
In a separate development, the Moscow court service said on Thursday that another American, Joseph Tater, had been placed in pretrial detention until October 14 on a charge of assaulting a police officer. He is already serving a 15-day prison sentence for abusing staff in a Moscow hotel, which he denied, and could face up to five years if convicted on the assault charge.
Update: August 15 2024
This story has been updated with new information.
Reuters
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