A Russian-American woman has been sentenced to 12 years in a Russian penal colony for donating $50 to a pro-Ukraine charity.
Ksenia Karelina, a 33-year-old American woman, was detained in Russia while visiting her grandparents earlier this year.
“When he arrived at Koltsovo airport at the end of January, law enforcement officers checked his mobile phone with the search word 'Ukraine,'” according to the Daily Mail. “They allegedly found evidence of a wire transfer to a pro-Ukrainian foundation in America.”
That wire transfer led to Karelina being charged with treason, a charge she later pleaded guilty to last week. In response, the court sentenced her to serve time in a penal colony.
American and Russian citizen Ksenia Karelina was sentenced to 12 years in prison. She was found guilty of treason for raising funds for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. – Russian media
He donated $51.80 to a Ukrainian charity. pic.twitter.com/9Lei1G86d5
— Kvist.P (@kvistp) August 15, 2024
Karelina's lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, said later that he intends to appeal the verdict.
“She admitted her guilt in terms of the transfer of funds, but she did not admit her intention to transfer funds to those organizations that they likely reached,” he said. “He did not assume that the funds he transferred would be used for anti-Russian actions.”
He is also hopeful that Karelina will be included in a future prisoner exchange like the one that took place weeks ago.
“An exchange is impossible until the verdict of the court comes into effect,” he told reporters before the verdict was reached. “After the verdict, of course we will work in that direction.”
As for the claim that Karelina never wanted to donate money for “anti-Russian” actions, the facts seem to fit.
For example, her boyfriend said CNN that he bought the plane tickets to Russia as a birthday present and that she was “not afraid” of the visit.
“I was so proud to go home,” she said. “She is very proud of Russia.”
The boyfriend added that he never discussed the war between Russia and Ukraine, saying: “He doesn't watch the news, he doesn't interfere with anything.”
Of course, he may have only said all this to help his case, especially given that the name of the organization he donated to is literally Razom for Ukraine.
Although to be fair, he did make the donation on February 24, 2022, the first day Russia invaded Ukraine.
Also, according to Reuters“His supporters say he had donated $51.80 to Razom for Ukraine, a New York-based charity that provides humanitarian aid to children and the elderly in Ukraine. The charity has denied providing any military support to Kiev “.
US citizen Ksenia Karelina is sentenced to 12 years for treason by a Russian court. On February 24, 2022, he donated $51.8 to a humanitarian foundation Razom for Ukraine from his US bank account. Karelina was arrested in January 2024 when she came to Yekaterinburg to visit family
Photo: VK pic.twitter.com/1MWaLBG9T0
— Mediazona English (@mediazona_en) August 15, 2024
In a separate statement a CBS Newsthe boyfriend, identified as Chris Van Heerden, sounded much angrier.
“This whole judgment is bogus,” he said. “Ksenia should be home, and I'm angry. I'm angry and I'm trying to stay calm.”
He also threw Biden's State Department under the bus for lying to him about the previous prisoner exchange.
“For the past 8 months, I have been pushing for illegal detention [designation]so that when we have a prisoner exchange, that Ksenia be on that list and be a priority,” he said. “I slowed down. They told me we had time.”
“They told me, 'Chris, don't worry, there won't be a prisoner exchange until after the election or maybe early next year'… Guess what. Two weeks ago there was a prisoner exchange and Ksenia was not on that list,” he added.
The only good news is that Karelina avoided the even tougher 15-year sentence that the prosecutor had recommended.
Van Heerden, meanwhile, is supporting a miracle.
“I'm not a begging man, but I'm begging the American people to help me get Ksenia back,” he told CBS News. “Can we get her to plead wrongfully detained right now?”
“The main purpose of the whole operation is to create a bank of hostages with American passports.”
–Russian investigative reporter Andrei Soldatov on the arrest of Ksenia Karelina, a Russian-American arrested in Russia for allegedly donating $51 to Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/LKvhG9Eq6g
— Brianna Keilar (@brikeilarcnn) February 22, 2024
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