A chilling video captured the moment a blindfolded American ballerina was led into Russian court for a show trial for allegedly raising funds for the Ukrainian cause.
Dual Russian-American citizen Ksenia Karelina, 33, was arrested by Vladimir Putin‘s Federal Security Service, the FSB, on high treason charges, officials confirmed Tuesday.
A state-media video shows masked Russian soldiers leading the ballerina to court in Ekaterinburg, where a judge denied her bail, as reported by The Financial Times. She is seen wearing a white hat that covered her eyes.
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.
A chilling video captured the moment a blindfolded American ballerina was led into Russian court for a show trial for allegedly raising funds for the Ukrainian cause
Vladimir Putin ‘s secret security force the FSB arrested dual Russian-American Ksenia Karelina, 32, on treason charges, officials confirmed Tuesday
Karelina is a resident of Los Angeles who became a US citizen in 2021. Last summer, she married her American husband
Karelina is seen in Russian court with her face blurred
Yekaterinburg is also the same city where Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich was arrested on spying charges nearly 12 months ago.
Karelina was sentenced to 14 days detention for ‘petty hooliganism’ before she was slapped with treason charges.
The dancer was then 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 the day Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022.
The ballerina has also been accused of attending ‘public rallies in support of the Kyiv regime,’ in the US.
Treason charges can carry penalties of up to 20 years in prison.
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 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
On her Facebook page, Karelina says that she’s from Yekaterinburg and that she studied ballet at the S. P. Diaghilev school. She worked as a spa manager in Beverly Hills, per her social media accounts.
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.
Karelina is accused of ‘proactively collecting funds since February 2022 in the interests of a Ukrainian organization’
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.
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
A statement from Russian officials refers to Karelina as a resident of Los Angeles
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.
On the same day that Karelina’s arrest was announced, Gershkovich appeared in a Moscow court where he had his pre-trial detention extended.
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.