Russian authorities on Tuesday arrested a woman with dual U.S.-Russian citizenship on charges of treason for raising funds for Ukraine’s military, according to reports.
The woman, whose identity has not been released, was detained in Yekaterinburg, the same city where Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was detained last March.
“The Federal Security Service in Yekaterinburg suppressed the illegal activities of a 33-year-old Los Angeles resident with dual Russian and American citizenship,” Russia’s FSB said in a statement to TASS news agency, according to Reuters. .
Reuters cited state media reports, adding that Russian officials claimed the woman was collecting money for a Ukrainian organization aimed at passing money to the Ukrainian military.
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Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), headquartered here in Moscow, arrested a dual US-Russian national on Tuesday, according to reports. (Hohlfeld/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
The development comes after a Russian court on Tuesday rejected the latest appeal by Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich’s lawyers and extended his detention again.
The newspaper said the reporter, who the paper and the US say was wrongly detained on suspicion of espionage, will now be detained until at least March 30, making his detention period a full year.
In January, Russian authorities arrested American national Robert Woodland Romanoff on drug charges.
American arrested in Russia on drug charges, officials say
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovitch is escorted from the Lefortovsky courtroom in Moscow, Russia, on January 26th. His detention in Russia was extended again on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlyanichenko)
According to the Associated Press, the Moscow court’s press office announced at the time that the Ostankino district court had sentenced Romanov to be detained for two months pending an official investigation on charges of preparing to participate in illegal drug trafficking. However, details of the accusations were not disclosed.
Last October, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Ars Kurmasheva, who holds dual U.S. and Russian citizenship, was detained by Russian authorities and charged with being an unregistered foreign agent.
Former US Marine Paul Whelan, who was arrested on suspicion of spying, also remains in custody in Russia. (Sofia Sandurskaya, Moscow Press Photo, via AP, File)
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Paul Whelan, a Michigan corporate security executive, has also been imprisoned in Russia since his arrest in December 2018 on espionage-related charges that he and the U.S. government dispute. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
