Russia sentences US dual citizen to 12 years for treason
Al Jazeera
Supporters say she donated about $50 to charity, but investigators accuse her of helping Ukraine buy weapons.
A court in Russia has sentenced US-Russian dual national Ksenia Karelina to 12 years in prison after finding her guilty of treason for donating money to a charity supporting Ukraine.
The Sverdlovsk Regional Court in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg returned its verdict on Thursday, sending the 32-year-old ballet dancer and spa worker, who pleaded guilty last week at a closed trial, to a “general regime colony”.
The Federal Security Service (FSB) had accused Karelina of collecting money for a Ukrainian organisation that was “used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces”.
Her supporters say she had donated a mere $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 Ukraine.
Karelina was born in Russia and emigrated to the United States in 2012, receiving American citizenship in 2021.
