Russian-American ballerina arrested in Moscow over $50 Ukraine charity donation
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Published Feb 21, 2024 • Last updated 2 days ago • 2 minute read
Ksenia Karelina, an American citizen, is seen under arrest in Russia.
Ksenia Karelina, an American citizen, is seen under arrest in Russia. PHOTO BY RIA NOVOSTI / VOLUNTEER INFO /Facebook
A Russian-American ballerina has been arrested in Russia for allegedly donating money to Ukrainian relief efforts.
Ksenia Karelina, who lives in Los Angeles, was heading to Yekaterinburg to visit family when she was accused of treason and taken into custody in Moscow on Jan. 2.
In a video shared to social media, Karelina is seen with a hat covering her eyes and wearing a puffer jacket as a member of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) places her in handcuffs.
The FSB accused her of “proactively collecting funds in the interests of one of the Ukrainian organizations, which were subsequently used to purchase tactical medicine items, equipment, weapons and ammunition by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”
According to Russian lawyers group Perviy Otdel, a $51.80 donation to American charity Razom for Ukraine – Together for Ukraine – was likely tracked by bank records recovered from a phone by Russian officials when she crossed the border.
“We recommend deleting the history of money transfers to foreign accounts from banking applications, including foreign banks,” the group wrote on messaging app Telegram.
Razom provides humanitarian assistance in Ukraine to people affected by the war with Russia.
Karelina, 33, faces 20 years in prison.
Isabella Koretz, owner of a Beverly Hills spa where Karelina works, said her friend was “interrogated for 13 hours” and placed in a freezing jail cell with two other women.
“She’s not a politician, she’s an aesthetician,” Koretz told Britain’s Daily Mail. “She’s just a super sweet person and wanted to help.
“She’s an American citizen. She’s entitled to do whatever she wants to do, and she was really missing her family.”
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the White House and the State Department were aware of reports of the arrest of a dual U.S.-Russia citizen and added “we are trying to get more information and to secure some consular access to that individual.”
Kirby didn’t comment further out of respect for privacy, but he reiterated “our very strong warnings about the danger posed to U.S. citizens inside Russia.”
He added: “If you’re a U.S. citizen, including a dual national residing in or traveling in Russia, you ought to leave right now.”
News of her arrest comes days after Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died in a remote Arctic penal colony.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Karelina left Russia more than a decade ago as part of a program to work and study English in the Baltimore area.
She became a U.S. citizen when she married in 2013 but the relationship didn’t work out. She moved to Los Angeles in 2015 to start a new life.
— with files from the Associated Press.
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😡 A US citizen was recently detained in Russia for allegedly donating to the Ukrainian army The individual, believed to be Ksenia Karelina - a former...
facebook.com
A Russian American woman from Los Angeles is held in Russia on treason charges, apparently over a donation to a charity for Ukraine.
latimes.com
Karelina was arrested on January 2 as she returned to her homeland to visit her family, her employer Isabella Koretz tells DailyMail.com.
dailymail.co.uk
razomforukraine.org
A Russian-American ballerina has been arrested in Russia for allegedly donating money to Ukrainian relief efforts.
torontosun.com