A Russian-American spa worker, Ksenia Karelina, was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment by a Russian court for donating money to a charity course supporting Ukraine against the county.
The court ruled that the woman’s actions, according to the Russian law, amount to treason.
The Los Angeles resident pleaded guilty at her closed trial in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, where her case was heard by the same court that convicted Wall Street Journal reporter, Evan Gershkovich, of espionage.
The court on Thursday, said investigators found that Karelina had, on February 24, 2022 – the first day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – “transferred funds in the interests of a Ukrainian organisation, which were subsequently used for the purchase of tactical medicine items, equipment, means of defeat and ammunition by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”
Her supporters say she had donated $51.80 to Razom for Ukraine, a New York-based charity that provides humanitarian aid to children and elderly people in Ukraine.
The charity organization has denied it provides any military support to Ukraine in the ongoing fight against Russia.
The 33-year-old Karelina, who appeared in court, was not included in a major prisoner swap between Russia and the West last week that freed Gershkovich a journalist, who was once detained in russia, but her lawyer Mikhail Mushailov has said she hoped to be included in a future exchange.
Karelina was born in Russia and emigrated to the United States in 2012, receiving American citizenship in 2021.
She was arrested by the FSB security service after flying to Russia to visit her family in Yekaterinburg at the start of the year.
