Russian-American spa employee Ksenia Karelina was found guilty of treason for donating to a charity supporting Ukraine and sentenced to 12 years in prison by a Russian court on Thursday.
The Los Angeles resident pleaded guilty in a closed trial in the Ural city of Yekaterinburg. Her case was heard by the same court that convicted Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich of espionage in July.
The court said investigators found that Karelina “transferred funds for the benefit of Ukrainian entities on Feb. 24, 2022, the first day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which were subsequently used for the purchase of tactical medicines, equipment, means of defeat and ammunition by the Ukrainian armed forces.”
Her supporters said she donated $51.80 to Lasom for Ukraine, a New York-based charity that provides humanitarian aid to children and elderly people in Ukraine.
The charity denies providing any military support to Kiev.
Karelina appeared in court Thursday wearing a white sweatshirt and blue jeans, sitting silently inside a glass courtroom cage.
The 33-year-old was not included in the major prisoner swap between Russia and Western countries that freed Gershkovich last week, but her lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, said he hoped she would be included in a future exchange.
Karelina was born in Russia, moved to the United States in 2012, and became an American citizen in 2021.
She was arrested by FSB security forces earlier this year after flying to Russia to visit family in Yekaterinburg.
