Russian prosecutors are seeking a 15-year prison sentence for Ksenia Karelina, a Russian-American citizen accused of treason for donating to a charity that supports Ukraine. Karelina, who was not included in a recent prisoner exchange between Russia and the West, is currently being tried in Yekaterinburg.
“The prosecution has requested a 15-year sentence in a standard penal colony,” stated her lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, to Russian state media on Thursday. Karelina has pleaded guilty, and a verdict is expected to be delivered on August 15.
Born in Russia, Karelina emigrated to the United States in 2012 and became a U.S. citizen in 2021. A former employee at a spa in Los Angeles, she was arrested by the Federal Security Service (FSB) after traveling to Russia to visit her family in Yekaterinburg earlier this year. The prosecution filed the treason charges after discovering information on her mobile phone that revealed she had donated $51.80 to Razom, a charity that provides aid to Ukraine following Russia’s invasion of the neighboring country in February 2022. The FSB claimed that the ultimate recipient of the funds was the Ukrainian military.
Mushailov pointed out that the prosecutor’s demand for a 15-year prison sentence was excessively harsh, noting that Karelina had cooperated with the investigation, including voluntarily giving up her phone. He added that she pleaded guilty in the hope of receiving a lighter sentence, stating, “it would be foolish in this situation to deny the obvious.”
Razom expressed its shock at Karelina’s arrest, stating that they support a range of humanitarian projects, including the provision of first aid supplies, stoves, generators, radios, and vehicles for Ukrainian medical teams on the front lines.
Russia holds several Western and dual citizens in its prisons. Among them is Yuri Malev, who was sentenced to three and a half years in prison in June for social media posts allegedly mocking a patriotic song from the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazism in World War II. Malev has been in pre-trial detention since December 2022. Other Americans still detained on various charges include Gordon Black, a serviceman who received a sentence of three years and nine months in June for assault and theft from his Russian girlfriend, and Marc Fogel, a former teacher serving a 14-year sentence after being caught with medical marijuana, which he claimed he used for pain management.