A Russian-American lady arrested earlier this yr whereas visiting household in Russia went on trial for alleged treason on Thursday after authorities accused her of elevating cash to ship to the Ukrainian military.
Ksenia Karelina, who was born in Russia however had constructed a brand new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the USA over a decade in the past, faces a sentence of 12 years to life in jail if discovered responsible.
Her trial might be held behind closed doorways, as is customary in such circumstances in Russia. Treason acquittals are uncommon there.
The court docket within the Urals metropolis of Yekaterinburg printed a brief video of Karelina sitting in a glass cage, carrying denims and a inexperienced plaid shirt.
She smiled faintly as reporters snapped images.
At the very least a dozen Individuals are at the moment jailed in Russia, a part of a rising checklist of international nationals who’ve discovered themselves caught up within the disaster of relations between Moscow and Washington in the course of the Ukraine struggle.
Russia’s Federal Safety Service (FSB) detained Karelina in January whereas she was visiting her dad and mom and younger sister in Yekaterinburg.
Her former mother-in-law, Eleonora Srebroski, advised Reuters in February that Karelina had traveled residence across the New 12 months after her boyfriend shocked her with a aircraft ticket.
She had assured her boyfriend that Russia was “secure” and that he had no purpose to concern her touring there, in keeping with Srebroski.
Initially arrested beneath a minor “petty hooliganism” statute, Karelina was later charged with treason.
Srebroski mentioned Karelina had made a small donation to Razom for Ukraine, a New York-based nonprofit that sends non-military help to the nation, invaded by Russian forces in 2022.
Karelina, who’s in her early thirties, arrived within the US in 2012 through a work-study program and was briefly married to Srebroski’s son.
Her ex-husband has described her as a fun-loving lady who didn’t care a lot for politics.
Karelina’s social media profiles characteristic images of herself and mates on the seashore and on journeys, however with out political messaging.
One picture from November 2021 exhibits her in an extended gown, smiling and waving a small American flag, with the caption, “Citizenship.”
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