Kremlin Tries Dual US-Russia Citizen On Treason Charge Because She Gave $50 To Ukrainian Charity While In US

June 20, 2024 Russia, Ukraine

The Associated Press reports:

The trial of a Russian American dual citizen whom Russia accuses of treason opened on Thursday as tensions rise between Washington and Moscow, including over the arrests of two American journalists.

The trial is being held behind closed doors in Yekaterinburg, in the same court that next week is to begin hearing the case of Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter who was arrested in March 2023 and charged with espionage.

The defendant was identified by Russian authorities as Los Angeles resident Ksenia Karelina, although U.S. media reports frequently use the surname Khavana, the name of her ex-husband.

Axios reports:



Karelina was born in Russia but arrived in the U.S. in 2012, per Reuters. She has both U.S. and Russian citizenship. The esthetician and former ballerina was living in Los Angeles, and was detained in February while visiting family in Russia.

Her former workplace previously said she was detained for allegedly donating $51.80 to a Ukrainian charity in the U.S. Karelina’s arrest came as Russia sharply cracked down on dissent in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.

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