Vladimir Putin ‘s secret security force the FSB has arrested a dual Russian-American ballerina on treason charges, officials confirmed Tuesday.
Video posted by a Russian news agency shows 32-year-old Ksenia Karelina being led into a courtroom in handcuffs with her face blurred. It’s not clear when the video was recorded.
Karelina is a resident of Los Angeles who became a US citizen in 2021. Last summer, she married her American husband.
She was arrested on the same day that Putin sat down for a widely panned interview with Tucker Carlson outside of a movie theater in Yekaterinburg on swearing charges.
The same city where Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich was arrested on spying charges nearly 12 months ago.
A subsequent investigation saw her accused of fundraising for a Ukrainian military cause. She is specifically accused of transferring $51.80 from American bank account to Ukrainian charity, Razom.
On her Facebook page, Karelina says that she’s from Yekaterinburg and that she studied ballet at the S. P. Diaghilev school.
A statement from Russian officials refers to Karelina as a resident of Los Angeles. Karelina is accused of fund raising for a pro-Ukrainian organization, she attained US citizenship in 2021.
Karelina says that she’s from Yekaterinburg that she studied ballet at the S. P. Diaghilev school.
Karelina is accused of ‘proactively collecting funds since February 2022 in the interests of a Ukrainian organization
Karelina is accused of ‘proactively collecting funds since February 2022 in the interests of a Ukrainian organization, which were subsequently used to purchase tactical medicine, equipment, weapons and ammunition for the Armed Forces of Ukraine,’ the FSB alleges.
‘In addition, the citizen in question repeatedly took part in public actions in support of the Kyiv regime while in the United States,’ the agency added, reports The Moscow Times.
Russian language outlet Mediazona reports that Karelina has been a US citizen since 2021 and that in 2023 she married an American man.
Karelina graduated from Ural Federal University in 2013. Numerous posts on her Facebook page show her in Baltimore, Maryland, beginning in 2014.
Treason charges can carry penalties of up to 20 years in prison.
On the same day that Karelina’s arrest was announced, Gershkovich appeared in a Moscow court where he had his pre-trial detention extended.
Mediazona reports that Karelina was first arrested on charges of ‘petty hooliganism,’ for swearing. While in custody, those charges were upgraded to ‘high treason.’
The outlet goes on to report that Karelina ceased posting on the Russian social media site VK in 2021 after discussing getting American citizenship on the platform.
Razom, the Ukrainian charity that she’s accused of supporting, describes itself as ‘contributing to the establishment of a secure, prosperous, and democratic Ukraine.’
On her LinkedIn page, Karelina says that she works as a manager at Ciel Spa Beverly Hills, a role that she’s been in since 2019.
Karelina pictured with friends in a Facebook post from 2017.
On her LinkedIn page, Karelina says that she works as a manager at Ciel Spa Beverly Hills, a role that she’s been in since 2019
Mediazona reports that Karelina was first arrested on charges of ‘petty hooliganism,’ for swearing. While in custody, those charges were upgraded to ‘high treason.
Karelina is the latest American behind bars in Russia, in addition to Gershkovich, former US Marine Paul Whelan and Texas dad David Barnes, 65, who last week was sentenced to 21 years in prison in Moscow on child abuse charges.
Earlier this month, Putin told former Fox News host Tucker Carlson in an interview that he was open to the idea of releasing Americans held in Russian jails but did not discuss specifics.
