US-Russian citizen sentenced to 12 years in prison for treason – The Irish Times

Ksenia Karelina, a Russian-American spa worker, was sentenced to 12 years in prison by a Russian court on Thursday after being found guilty of treason for donating money to a charity supporting Ukraine.

The Los Angeles-based lawyer pleaded guilty in her closed trial in the Ural city of Yekaterinburg. Her case was heard in the same court that convicted Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich of espionage in July.

The court said investigators had established that on February 24, 2022 – the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine – Ms Karelina “transferred funds in the interests of a Ukrainian organization, which were subsequently used to purchase tactical medicine, equipment, means of destruction and ammunition by the Armed Forces of Ukraine”.

Her supporters say she donated $51.80 to Razom for Ukraine, a New York-based charity that provides humanitarian aid to children and the elderly in Ukraine. The charity has denied that it provides military support to Kyiv.

Ms Karelina appeared in court on Thursday and sat quietly in a glass cage in the courtroom.

The 33-year-old was not part of a prisoner swap between Russia and the West that led to Mr Gershkovich's release last week, but her lawyer Mikhail Mushailov said she hoped to be considered in a future exchange.

Karelina was born in Russia and immigrated to the United States in 2012, where she obtained American citizenship in 2021. She was detained by the FSB security service after flying to Russia earlier this year to visit her family in Yekaterinburg. – Reuters

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