A chilling video captured the moment a blindfolded American ballerina was led into a Russian court for a show trial for allegedly raising money for the Ukrainian cause.
Dual Russian-American citizen Ksenia Karelina, 33, was arrested by Vladimir Putinthe Federal Security Service, the FSB, on charges of high treason, officials confirmed Tuesday.
A video from state media shows masked Russian soldiers leading the ballerina to the court in Yekaterinburg, 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 and became a US citizen in 2021. Last summer she married her American husband.
She was arrested on the same day that Putin attended a widely publicized interview with Tucker Carlson outside a Yekaterinburg cinema on charges of insult.
A chilling video captured the moment a blindfolded American ballerina was led into Russian court for a show trial for allegedly raising money for the Ukrainian cause
Vladimir Putin’s secret security forces, the FSB, arrested 32-year-old Russian-American Ksenia Karelina on charges of treason, officials confirmed Tuesday
Karelina is a resident of Los Angeles and became a US citizen in 2021. Last summer she married her American husband
Karelina is seen in Russian court with a blurred face
Yekaterinburg is also the same city where Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich was arrested on espionage charges nearly 12 months ago.
Karelina was sentenced to 14 days in prison for ‘petty hooliganism’ before being charged with treason.
Karelina was subsequently accused of fundraising for a Ukrainian military cause. She is specifically accused of transferring $51.80 from a US bank account to the Ukrainian charity Razom on the day Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022.
The ballerina is also accused of attending “public rallies in support of the Kiev regime” in the US.
Treason charges carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years.
On her Facebook page, Karelina says she is from Yekaterinburg and studied ballet at the SP Diaghilev School. She worked as a spa manager in Beverly Hills, according to her social media accounts.
Karelina is accused of “proactively raising funds in the interest of a Ukrainian organization since February 2022, which was then used to purchase tactical medicines, equipment, weapons and ammunition for the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the FSB alleges.
“In addition, during his stay in the United States, the citizen in question repeatedly participated in public actions in support of the Kiev regime,” the agency said. The Moscow Times.
Mediazona reports that Karelina was first arrested on charges of ‘petty hooliganism’, for swearing. While in custody, these charges were upgraded to ‘high treason’
Karelina is accused of fundraising for a pro-Ukrainian organization. She obtained US citizenship in 2021
Karelina says she is from Yekaterinburg and studied ballet at the SP Diaghilev School
Karelina is accused of ‘proactively raising money since February 2022 in the interest of a Ukrainian organization’
Russian-language outlet Mediazona reports that Karelina has been a US citizen since 2021 and that she married an American man in 2023.
Karelina graduated from the Ural Federal University in 2013. Numerous posts on her Facebook page show her in Baltimore, Maryland as of 2014.
Mediazona reports that Karelina was first arrested on charges of ‘petty hooliganism’, for swearing. While in custody, these charges were upgraded to ‘high treason’.
The outlet further reports that Karelina stopped posting on Russian social media site VK in 2021 after discussing obtaining U.S. citizenship on the platform.
Razom, the Ukrainian charity she is said to be supporting, describes itself as “contributing to the creation of a secure, prosperous and democratic Ukraine.”
On her LinkedIn page, Karelina says she works as a manager at Ciel Spa Beverly Hills, a role she has held since 2019.
Karelina pictured with friends in a 2017 Facebook post
On her LinkedIn page, Karelina says she works as a manager at Ciel Spa Beverly Hills, a role she has held 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, joining Gershkovich, former US Marine Paul Whelan and Texan father David Barnes, 65, who was sentenced last week in Moscow to 21 years in prison on child abuse charges.
On the same day that Karelina’s arrest was announced, Gershkovich appeared in court in Moscow, where his pre-trial detention was 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 prisons, but he did not discuss details.
