🤯 Have you seen our AI stock pickers’ 2024 results? 84.62%! Grab November’s list now.Pick Stocks with AI

Russian prosecutors seek 15-year treason sentence for US citizen Karelina

Published 08/08/2024, 03:08 AM
Updated 08/08/2024, 10:35 AM

YEKATERINBURG, Russia (Reuters) -Russian prosecutors on Thursday demanded a 15-year sentence for Ksenia Karelina, a Russian-American woman accused of treason for making a donation of just over $50 to a charity supporting Ukraine.

The Los Angeles spa employee has pleaded guilty at her trial in the city of Yekaterinburg. The court press service said she made a closing plea to the judge on Thursday and would be sentenced on Aug. 15.

Karelina was not included in a major prisoner swap between Russia and the West last week, but her lawyer Mikhail Mushailov said she hoped to be included in a future exchange.

"An exchange is impossible until the court verdict comes into force," Mushailov told reporters. "After the verdict, of course, we will work in this direction."

Karelina was born in Russia but emigrated to the United States in 2012 and became a U.S. citizen in 2021. She was arrested by the FSB security service after flying to Russia to visit her family in Yekaterinburg at the start of the year.

Investigators brought the treason charge after discovering on her mobile phone that she had donated $51.80 to Razom, a charity that provides aid to Ukraine, when Russia invaded its neighbour in February 2022. The FSB alleged that the ultimate beneficiary was the Ukrainian army.

The charity has said it was "appalled" by Karelina's arrest. Its website says it supports a range of humanitarian projects including the supply of first aid kits, wood stoves, generators, radios and vehicles to frontline Ukrainian medics.

It also helps Ukrainian children and vulnerable communities affected by the war, including by providing food, shelter, psychological support and clean water.

Journalists were barred from the courtroom during Karelina's trial, which is standard procedure for treason or espionage cases in Russia.

Mushailov said the prosecutors' request for 15 years in a penal colony was too harsh because Karelina had cooperated with the investigation, including by voluntarily giving up her phone.

He said she had pleaded guilty in the hope of getting a lower sentence, and because "it was stupid in this situation to deny the obvious".

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A portrait of Ksenia Karelina with her former in-laws and ex-husband in Maryland, U.S, December 13, 2015. Eleonora Srebroski  /Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

Three American citizens - journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva and former Marine Paul Whelan - were among those freed from Russian jails in last week's East-West exchange, which involved 24 prisoners held in seven countries.

Karelina is among a group of Americans still held in Russia on a variety of charges. They include Gordon Black, a soldier sentenced to three years and nine months in June for assaulting and stealing from his Russian girlfriend, and Marc Fogel, a former teacher serving a 14-year sentence after being caught with marijuana that he said he used to treat pain.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.