Ballerina facing up to 15 years in Russian jail for donating £40 to Ukraine charity

A US-Russian woman who admitted giving around £40 to a charity supporting Ukraine could be jailed for up to 15 years, if prosecutors in Russia have their way, the country’s news agencies have said.

Ksenia Karelina was accused of treason for collecting money for Ukraine’s military when she was arrested in Yekaterinburg, in southwestern Russia, in February.

The 33-year-old admitted the charge at a closed trial in the city on Wednesday, news reports said.

News agency Interfax, quoting her lawyer Mikhail Mushalov, said prosecutors had called for a 15-year term in a penal colony, on Thursday.

Karelina, an amateur ballerina, was born in Russia but reportedly obtained US citizenship by marrying an American and moving to Los Angeles, where she worked in a spa.

Investigators brought the treason charge after discovering by searching her mobile phone that she made a $51 (£40) donation to Razom, a charity that provides aid to Ukraine, when Russia invaded its neighbour in February 2022.

She was visiting family in Russia when she was arrested, rights group The First Department said.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) claims she proactively collected money in the interests of one of the Ukrainian organisations.

It said the donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces”.

Vladimir Putin’s government has sharply cracked down on both dissent and criticism of the war since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Any perceived criticism of the Russian military is also banned, while it is felt by some that Moscow is targeting US nationals for arrest.

In the largest Russia-West prisoner exchange since the end of the Cold War, Russia last week released Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and American corporate security executive Paul Whelan, both of whom were imprisoned on espionage convictions.

They were joined by US-Russian dual national radio journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, who had been sentenced to six-and-a-half years for spreading “false information” about the Russian military.

Russia also released several prominent opposition figures who were imprisoned for criticising the Ukraine military operation.

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Karelina will be sentenced in a week, Mr Mushalov told reporters, adding that she hoped to be part of a future prisoner exchange scheme, but that was “impossible until the court verdict comes into force”.

The charity has said it was “appalled” by her arrest.

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Its website said it supports a range of humanitarian projects including the supply of first aid kits, wood stoves, generators, radios and vehicles to frontline Ukrainian medics.

It also helps Ukrainian children and vulnerable communities affected by the war, including by providing food, shelter,
psychological support and clean water.

Mr Mushalov said his client had cooperated with the investigation, including by voluntarily giving up her phone and had pleaded guilty in the hope of getting a lower sentence, and because “it was stupid to deny the obvious”.

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