Long prison sentence threatened
Dual citizen on trial for treason in Russia
20.06.2024, 18:23
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In January, the Russian-American ballerina Ksenia Karelina wanted to visit her family in Russia – and was arrested. She was accused of supporting the Ukrainian army. The trial is now beginning in Yekaterinburg.
A trial has begun in Russia against Russian-American dual citizen Ksenia Karelina for “treason”. Karelina, 32, who lived in California in the USA, is on trial in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg. She is accused of donating 50 US dollars (around 47 euros) in 2022 to a Ukrainian organization that supports the Ukrainian army, the court said.
If convicted, she faces 20 years in prison. As a video released by the court showed, Karelina smiled at the journalists in the courtroom as she sat in the defendant’s cage before the hearing. The actual proceedings were held behind closed doors, as is usual for such trials. Another hearing was scheduled for August 7.
The ballerina, who lived and worked in Los Angeles, was arrested in Yekaterinburg at the end of January during a family visit. Washington accuses Moscow of arresting US citizens on unfounded charges in order to use them as leverage for the release of Russians convicted abroad. Other US citizens imprisoned in Russia include US reporter Evan Gershkovich, Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva and former US soldier Paul Whelan.