Chilling video captured the moment a blindfolded American dancer was hauled into a Russian court for a show trial for allegedly raising funds for the Ukrainian cause.
Ksenia Karelina, 33, a dual Russian-American citizen, was arrested for Vladimir PutinGermany’s secret security force, the FSB, on treason charges, officials confirmed Tuesday.
She was escorted by Russian soldiers as she was taken to the Yekaterinburg court, where a judge denied her bail, The Financial Times reported.
Karelina is a resident of Los Angeles and became a US citizen in 2021. Last summer she married her American husband.
She was arrested the same day Putin sat down for a widely criticized interview with Tucker Carlson outside a cinema in Yekaterinburg on charges of profanity.
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 of detention for “violating public order” before being charged with treason.
Chilling video captured the moment a blindfolded American dancer was hauled into a Russian court for a show trial for allegedly raising funds for the Ukrainian cause.
Vladimir Putin’s secret security force, the FSB, arrested Russian-American stuntwoman Ksenia Karelina, 32, on treason charges, 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 her face blurred
Mediazona reports that Karelina was first arrested on charges of “petty vandalism,” for using profanity. While she was in custody, those charges were upgraded to “high treason.”
Karelina was then accused of raising funds 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 dancer has also been accused of attending “public demonstrations in support of the kyiv regime” in the United States.
Treason charges can carry penalties of up to 20 years in prison.
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 collecting funds since February 2022 in the interests of a Ukrainian organization, which were subsequently used to purchase tactical medicines, equipment, weapons and ammunition for the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the FSB alleges.
“In addition, the citizen in question repeatedly participated in public actions in support of the kyiv regime while in the United States,” the agency added. The Moscow Times.
Karelina is accused of raising funds 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 funds since February 2022 in the interests of a Ukrainian organization”
The Russian-language media Mediazona reports that Karelina has been a US citizen since 2021 and that in 2023 she married an American man.
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 vandalism,” for using profanity. While she was in custody, those charges were upgraded to “high treason.”
The outlet goes on to report that Karelina stopped posting on the Russian social media site VK in 2021 after discussing obtaining US citizenship on the platform.
Razom, the Ukrainian charity he is accused of supporting, describes itself as “contributing to the establishment of a secure, prosperous and democratic Ukraine.”
On her LinkedIn page, Karelina says she works as a manager at Ciel Spa Beverly Hills, a position she has held since 2019.
Karelina photographed with friends in a 2017 Facebook post
On her LinkedIn page, Karelina says she works as a manager at Ciel Spa Beverly Hills, a position 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, in addition to Gershkovich, former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan and Texas father David Barnes, 65, who last week was sentenced to 21 years in prison in Moscow on abuse charges. childish.
On the same day that Karelina’s arrest was announced, Gershkovich appeared before a Moscow court where his preventive 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 detained in Russian prisons, but did not discuss specific details.