Russian-American ballerina who donated $51 to Ukraine to be sentenced today

Russia will announce its verdict in the case of a Russian-American ballerina accused of treason on Thursday (15). Ksenia Karelina was arrested for donating $51 to a charity supporting Ukraine. She could face a 15-year sentence.

The Los Angeles-based amateur ballerina pleaded guilty at her trial in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg.

The court’s press service said she made a closing argument to the judge and would be sentenced on Thursday (15).

Karelina was not included in a major prisoner swap between Russia and the West, but her lawyer Mikhail Mushailov said she hoped to be included in a future exchange.

“An exchange is impossible until the court’s verdict comes into force,” Mushailov told reporters. “After the verdict, of course, we will work in this direction.”

Karelina was born in Russia but moved to the United States in 2012 and became a US citizen in 2021.

She was arrested by the Russian Federation’s Federal Security Service (FSB) after flying to Russia to visit her family in Yekaterinburg earlier this year.

Investigators brought the treason charge after discovering on her cell phone that she had donated $51.80 to Razom, a charity providing aid to Ukraine, when Russia invaded its neighboring country in February 2022.

The FSB claimed that the ultimate beneficiary was the Ukrainian military.

The charity said it was “shocked” by Karelina’s arrest.

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

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

Journalists were barred from entering the courtroom during Karelina’s trial, which is standard procedure for treason or espionage cases in Russia.

Mushailov said the Russian prosecutors’ request for 15 years in a penal colony was too harsh because Karelina had cooperated with the investigation, including voluntarily handing over her phone.

He said she had pleaded guilty in the hope of getting a lesser sentence and because “it was stupid in this situation to deny the obvious.”

Three US citizens – journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva and former Marine Paul Whelan – were among those released from Russian prisons in the swap involving 24 prisoners held in seven countries.

Karelina is among a group of Americans still being held in Russia on a variety of charges.

Among them are Gordon Black, a soldier sentenced to three years and nine months in June for assaulting and robbing his Russian girlfriend, and Marc Fogel, a former teacher serving a 14-year sentence after being caught with marijuana he said he used to treat pain.