Ksenia Karelina, 33, a ballet dancer from Los Angeles, was arrested on a trip to Russia and put in a penal colony after giving a 50 dollar donation to a pro-Ukraine charity
An American ballet dancer jailed in a Russian penal colony over a $50 donation to a pro-Ukraine charity could be on a prisoner exchange list.
Ksenia Karelina, 33, this week had an appeal against a 12-year jail sentence, given in August, turned down by an appeals court in Russia over a charge of high treason.
“The defendant’s appeal was rejected. The sentence will therefore enter into force,” the appeals court in the Sverdlovsk region said on Telegram.
Ms Karelina, from Los Angeles who also has Russian citizenship, was sentenced over giving $51.80 (£40.76) to an organisation in the US that offers charitable aid to Ukraine. She was arrested in January this year while visiting family in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg initially on the charge of “petty hooliganism” which was later changed to “treason”.
She reportedly had her phone confiscated in Yekaterinburg and police found evidence on the phone of the donation. Shortly after Russia started its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, she reportedly gave the donation to the New York based charity Razom for Ukraine and Russia ’s spy agency, the FSB, claimed the money was used to boost the Ukrainian army.
It stated she “proactively collected money in the interests of one of the Ukrainian organizations, which was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”
Her appeal was rejected by the Second Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction and sent to a penal colony but her lawyer Mikhail Mushailov confirmed to Ponyatno Media she is on a prisoner exchange list although it is unclear whoelse is included. “We knew an exchange would happen one way or another. We did everything necessary for it,” he stated.
It has also been reported in Russia that the Foreign Ministry has a list of 70 people charged in the US on spy charges who would be candidates for a prisoner swap in February after Donald Trump becomes US president.
Tough sentences handed down to US citizens like Ms Karelina have been seen in the West as a bargaining tool for prisoner exchanges such as the deal which saw Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich return to the United States this year.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said that the conviction and sentencing of Ms Karelina was “nothing less than vindictive cruelty.” He added: “We’re talking about 50 bucks,” Kirby added. “To call that treason is absolutely ludicrous”
