US-Russia Citizen Spa Employees Tried For Donating To Ukrainian Charity

JAKARTA - Russian-American dual national Ksenia Karelina pleaded guilty in Russian courts on treason charges.

The state news agency RIA reported that Karelina, who was not included in the massive exchange of prisoners between Russia and the West last week, was tried in the city of Yekaterinburg for donations she made in 2022 to charities supporting Ukraine.

The trial on Wednesday, August 7, was the first in its case since the August 1 exchange involving 24 detainees in seven countries, in which three American nationals were released from Russian prisons.

RIA said prosecutors and defense prosecutors would conclude their arguments in the Karelina case on Thursday and the verdict would be announced on the same day.

Karelina was born in Russia but moved to the United States in 2012 and became a US citizen in 2021. The Los Angeles spa employee faces a 12-year sentence to life imprisonment if found guilty.

He was arrested by the FSB security service after flying to Russia to visit his family in Yekaterinburg at the start of the year.

Investigators filed treason allegations after finding on his cell phone that he had donated 51.80 US dollars to Razom, a charity that provided assistance to Ukraine, when Russia invaded its neighbor in February 2022.

The FSB accused the main beneficiaries of being Ukrainian soldiers.

The charity's website states that it supports various humanitarian projects including the provision of first aid boxes, wood stoves, generators, radios and vehicles for Ukrainian frontline medics.