A dual citizen of the United States and Russia has been arrested in Russia on treason charges for allegedly donating $51 to a Ukrainian charity, her employer in California said.
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said the detainee, a 33-year-old woman living in Los Angeles, was arrested in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg for “providing financial assistance to a foreign state in activities directed against the security of Russia ”.
A video shared by Russian state media outlet RIA Novosti showed a woman with a cap over her eyes being escorted by a security officer before being handcuffed and appearing in a court cell.
A US official told CNN that the woman is Ksenia Karelina, who became an American citizen in 2021. Karelina entered Russia on January 2, and the US learned of her arrest on February 8, the source said.
Karelina is accused of donating $51.80 to a Ukrainian charity in the US, according to a statement from her employer, a spa at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.
“Ciel Spa management and staff are devastated to share that our beloved beautician and friend, Ksenia Karelina, was wrongfully accused, arrested and [está] currently detained in the Russian prison system,” says a statement.
“Ksenia, who has dual citizenship, went to Russia to visit her 90-year-old grandmother, parents and younger sister. She was charged with treason for allegedly donating $51.80 to a Ukrainian charity in the US,” she continues.
The State Department noted on Tuesday (20) that it is aware of Karelina's detention and that the US did not have consular access to her.
“Russia does not recognize dual citizenship, it considers them Russian citizens first and so we often have difficulty obtaining consular assistance, but we will pursue it in all matters where a US citizen is detained,” explained State Department spokesman Matthew Miller at a press conference.
The FSB also accused Karelina of participating in “public actions to support the Kiev regime” while in the US. “Operational search activities and investigative actions continue. The court opted for a preventive measure in the form of detaining the defendant”, he stated.
The press service of the Sverdlovsk Regional Court told RIA that his hearing was supposed to take place on Tuesday, but due to the absence of a lawyer it was postponed until February 29.
The New York-based nonprofit Razom for Ukraine, to which Karelina reportedly donated funds, commented that it was “shocked” by reports of her detention.
“Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly demonstrated that he does not hold sovereign borders, foreign nationalities, or international treaties above his own narrow interests,” Razom CEO Dora Chomiak said in a statement posted on social media on Tuesday.
Razom called on the US government to do “everything in its power” to demand the release of “all those unjustly detained by Russia,” Chomiak added.
She added that Razom is a U.S.-based and funded charity that carries out activities “in accordance with our charitable purpose and our legal obligations as an American charitable organization,” which she said are “focused on humanitarian aid, in disasters, education and advocacy”.
In a post on Russian social media platform VK in November 2021, Karelina shared a photo of herself standing between two American flags and waving her own paper flag as she celebrated becoming an American citizen.
Her VK profile said she graduated from Ural Federal University in Yekaterinburg in 2014 and also studied at the University of Maryland in Baltimore.
Other images of Karelina have emerged showing a shoot for photography company Shutterstock, including some that show her posing as a ballerina in New York City in 2017.
US citizens detained in Russia
Moscow has detained several US citizens in recent years, and Karelina's detention came on the same day that the Moscow City Court upheld the extended pre-trial detention of American journalist Evan Gershkovich until March 30.
Gershkovich, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, was arrested in Yekaterinburg in March last year on espionage charges, which he, his employer and the US government vehemently denied. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison.
Russian President Vladimir Putin recently suggested that “it is possible to reach an agreement” with the United States to exchange Gershkovich for Vadim Krasikov, a Russian serving a life sentence in Germany for murdering a former Chechen fighter in Berlin in 2019. .
“Listen, I’ll tell you: sitting in a country, a country allied with the United States, is a man who, for patriotic reasons, eliminated a bandit in one of the European capitals,” Putin pointed out in an interview earlier this month with the analyst of American right wing Tucker Carlson.
In December 2022, Russia released American basketball star Brittney Griner in a prisoner exchange involving Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
Griner, who played for years in Russia during a period without an official WNBA calendar, was arrested in February of that year on charges of drug smuggling at a Moscow airport.
Former US Marine Paul Whelan was also sentenced to 16 years in prison in June 2020 after being found guilty on espionage charges that he vehemently denies.
*Arlette Saenz and AnneClaire Stapleton of CNN contributed to this report
Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
