Russian-American woman accused of funding Ukraine army, on trial for treason in Russia

On Thursday, a Russian-American lady who was detained earlier this year while on a visitation with family in Russia was put on trial for treason after the authorities said she had raised money to fund the Ukrainian army.

Ksenia Karelina, a Russian native who came to the United States more than 10 years ago and made a new life for herself as an aesthetician in a Los Angeles spa, could be sentenced to 12 years to life in prison if proven guilty.

As is typical in similar cases in Russia, her trial will take place in private. There are not many acquittals for treason.

A brief video of Karelina, dressed in denim pants and a green checkered top, sitting in a glass cage was released by the Yekaterinburg court in the Urals. A slight smile crossed her lips as photographers took pictures.

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There are presently twelve or more Americans serving jail sentences in Russia; they are among the increasing number of foreign people entangled in the crisis of relations between Moscow and Washington amidst the conflict in Ukraine.

Karelina was arrested by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) in January while she was in Yekaterinburg visiting her parents and younger sister.

A brief video of Karelina, dressed in denim pants and a green checkered top, sitting in a glass cage was released by the Yekaterinburg court in the Urals. A slight smile crossed her lips as photographers took pictures.

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There are presently twelve or more Americans serving jail sentences in Russia; they are among the increasing number of foreign people entangled in the crisis of relations between Moscow and Washington amidst the conflict in Ukraine.

Karelina was arrested by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) in January while she was in Yekaterinburg visiting her parents and younger sister.

Her former mother-in-law, Eleonora Srebroski, told Reuters in February that Karelina had travelled home around the New Year after her boyfriend surprised her with a plane ticket.

She had assured her boyfriend that Russia was “safe” and that he had no reason to fear her traveling there, according to Srebroski.

Initially arrested under a minor “petty hooliganism” statute, Karelina was later charged with treason.

Srebroski said Karelina had made a small donation to Razom for Ukraine, a New York-based nonprofit that sends non-military assistance to the country, invaded by Russian forces in 2022.

Karelina, who is in her early thirties, arrived in the U.S. in 2012 via a work-study program and was briefly married to Srebroski’s son. Her ex-husband has described her as a fun-loving woman who didn’t care much for politics.

Karelina’s social media profiles feature photos of herself and friends on the beach and on trips but without political messaging.

One photo from November 2021 shows her in a long dress, smiling and waving a small American flag, with the caption, “Citizenship”.