Ksenia Karelina: Russia sentences US citizen to 12 years for Ukraine donation

Los Angeles resident hopes to be freed in future prisoner exchanges

Russian-American dual citizen Ksenia Karelina was accused of treason for donating to a charity supporting Ukraine. Reuters

A Russian court has sentenced Ksenia Karelina, a dual Russian-US citizen, to 12 years in prison for treason over a donation she made to a charity that helps Ukraine.

The Sverdlovsk Regional Court announced the sentence on Thursday after prosecutors had asked the judge to jail Ms Karelina, 33, for 15 years. The Federal Security Service, known as the FSB, accused her in February of collecting funds for the Ukrainian army, Russia’s state-run Tass news service reported.

A resident of Los Angeles, Ms Karelina was detained during a family visit to the city of Yekaterinburg.

She pleaded guilty on August 7 and hopes to be released in a future prisoner exchange with the US, her lawyer Mikhail Mushailov said, according to Tass.

"We continue to be aware of reports of an American citizen and dual national American citizen that had a sentencing today in Russia," State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said on Thursday.

He condemned the Kremlin's "escalating domestic repression".

"As it relates to this particular case, we continue to raise this [issue] directly with the Russian government and continue to seek consular access," Mr Patel said.

The case revolved around a donation of about $50 that Ms Karelina allegedly made in 2022 to a US-based charity providing humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, according to the Pervy Otdel group, a human rights project run by a team of lawyers and journalists, which didn’t say where it got the information.

The FSB claimed the money was used to aid the Ukrainian military, without offering any evidence, in the wake of Russia’s February 2022 invasion.

"I just want to be incredibly clear about something, donating to a non-profit organisation, donating to an NGO, supporting the Ukrainian cause and supporting the Ukrainian people as they defend themselves against Russian aggression, especially doing so on American soil, is not a crime," Mr Patel said.

The closed-door trial took place in the same courthouse where Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was sentenced to 16 years on espionage charges.

Mr Gershkovich, former US Marine Paul Whelan and a group of jailed Russian dissidents were freed in a prisoner exchange involving Russia, the US and several European countries on August 1.