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Ksenia Karelina is accused of donating $52 to a New York-based nonprofit that bought weapons and other equipment, including medical aid, for Ukraine’s military.
Aug. 15, 2024, 6:09 a.m. ET
A court in Russia sentenced a dual citizen of Russia and the United States on Thursday to 12 years in prison on accusations that she committed treason by donating money — about $50 — for Ukraine’s armed forces.
The court, in the city of Yekaterinburg, claimed to have found that the funds donated by the woman, Ksenia Karelina, 32, “were subsequently used to purchase tactical medicine, equipment, weapons and ammunition” for Ukraine. She can still appeal, though the prosecution nearly always gets its way in treason cases in Russia’s stage-managed judicial system.
The conviction of Ms. Karelina, also known as Ksenia Khavana, was the latest in a series of treason and other cases by Russia against citizens of Western countries. The surge in such cases in recent years has raised concerns that the Kremlin views the accused as valuable assets to be traded for high-profile Russians held by the United States and other countries in the West.
Russian investigators accused Ms. Karelina of donating $52 to a New York-based nonprofit that bought weapons and other equipment, including medical aid, for Ukraine’s military, according to Perviy Otdel, a group of Russian lawyers who specialize in cases involving accusations of treason and other politically charged issues.
Ms. Karelina, who is from Yekaterinburg and lives in Los Angeles, pleaded guilty, according to Mikhail Mushailov, her lawyer. He said Ms. Karelina had instructed him to “do everything possible from the legal side to make sure she ends up on a list to get swapped” to return to the United States.
Mr. Mushailov did not disclose further details about the case, because it was classified.
Ms. Karelina, whose trial began on June 20, was arrested in February while visiting Yekaterinburg, an industrial city about 850 miles east of Moscow. Her case was heard by the same judge who presided over the trial of the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was freed this month in a prisoner swap after receiving a 16-year sentence in July.
