Vladimir Putin’s secret safety power the FSB has arrested a twin Russian-American ballerina on treason expenses, officers stated Tuesday.
Video posted by a Russian information company reveals 32-year-old Ksenia Karelina being led right into a courtroom in handcuffs along with her face blurred. She was arrested on the identical day that Putin sat down for a extensively panned interview with Tucker Carlson.
In response to the company, Karelina is a resident of Los Angeles who grew to become a US citizen in 2021. Final summer time, she married her American husband.
Now, she’s in a Russian jail cell, accused of fundraising for a Ukrainian trigger. She is particularly accused of transferring $51.80 from American checking account to Ukrainian charity, Razom.
Karelina was taken into custody within the metropolis of Yekaterinburg, greater than 800 miles east of Moscow. The identical metropolis the place Wall Avenue Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich was arrested on spying expenses practically 12 months in the past.
On her Fb web page, Karelina says that she’s from the town and that she studied ballet on the S. P. Diaghilev college.
A press release from Russian officers refers to Karelina as a resident of Los Angeles
Karelina is accused of fund elevating for a pro-Ukrainian group, she attained US citizenship in 2021
Karelina says that she’s from Yekaterinburg that she studied ballet on the S. P. Diaghilev college
Karelina is accused of ‘proactively gathering funds since February 2022 within the pursuits of a Ukrainian group, which had been subsequently used to buy tactical drugs, tools, weapons and ammunition for the Armed Forces of Ukraine,’ the FSB alleges.
‘As well as, the citizen in query repeatedly took half in public actions in assist of the Kyiv regime whereas in the USA,’ the company added, reviews The Moscow Occasions.
Russian language outlet Mediazona reviews that Karelina has been a US citizen since 2021 and that in 2023 she married an American man.
Karelina graduated from Ural Federal College in 2013. Quite a few posts on her Fb web page present her in Baltimore, Maryland, starting in 2014.
Treason expenses can carry penalties of as much as 20 years in jail.
On the identical day that Karelina’s arrest was introduced, Gershkovich appeared in a Moscow courtroom the place he had his pre-trial detention prolonged.
Mediazona reviews that Karelina was first arrested on expenses of ‘petty hooliganism,’ for swearing. Whereas in custody, these expenses had been upgraded to ‘excessive treason.’
The outlet goes on to report that Karelina ceased posting on the Russian social media website VK in 2021 after discussing getting American citizenship on the platform.
Razom, the Ukrainian charity that she’s accused of supporting, describes itself as ‘contributing to the institution of a safe, affluent, and democratic Ukraine.’
On her LinkedIn web page, Karelina says that she works as a supervisor at Ciel Spa Beverly Hills, a task that she’s been in since 2019.
Karelina pictured with pals in a Fb publish from 2017
On her LinkedIn web page, Karelina says that she works as a supervisor at Ciel Spa Beverly Hills, a task that she’s been in since 2019
Mediazona reviews that Karelina was first arrested on expenses of ‘petty hooliganism,’ for swearing. Whereas in custody, these expenses had been upgraded to ‘excessive treason’
Karelina is the newest American behind bars in Russia, along with Gershkovich, former US Marine Paul Whelan and Texas dad David Barnes, 65, who final week was sentenced to 21 years in jail in Moscow on baby abuse expenses.
Earlier this month, Putin informed former Fox Information host Tucker Carlson in an interview that he was open to the thought of releasing People held in Russian jails however didn’t focus on specifics.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings