A US ballerina has been imprisoned by Russia for 12 years after she donated just £30 to a pro-Ukraine charity.
Ksenia Karelina, 33, was convicted and sentenced today by a Russian court after investigators found she had sent the money in 2022.
Ksenia Karelina was detained this year
East2WestKsenia Karelina was imprisoned for 12 years[/caption]
Karelina became a US citizen in 2021
Russia released footage of Karelina behind bars
The Los Angeles resident pleaded guilty at her closed trial in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.
Her case was heard by the same court that convicted Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich of espionage in July.
Ballerina and aesthetician Karelina was visiting family in Russia in January when she was detained.
She was later seen in the footage behind bars in a pretrial detention jail as she awaits a hearing.
Russia viewed the charity as helping the Ukrainian military and vowed to arrest anyone for treason if they contributed.
Karelina became a United States citizen in 2021 and had been living in Los Angeles, California before her arrest.
Charity organization Razom said it was “appalled” to learn about Karelina’s arrest.
The ballerina’s boyfriend, Chris Van Heerden, told the BBC when she was detained that she was proud to be Russian.
He’d bought her a plane ticket to see her parents and little sister in Russia as a gift and she told him at the time that the trip would be safe.
Van Heerden, a professional boxer from South Africa, has been campaigning for the US to help free Karelina.
The ballerina was arrested going to see her parents in Russia
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