Ksenia Karelina: Ballerina jailed in Russia for 12 years after donating to Ukraine charity

Ksenia Karelina was arrested in February after donating $51 to a New York-based charity on the day of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine

A US-Russian ballerina has been jailed for 12 years in Russia after donating $51 (£40) to a charity supporting Ukraine.

Ksenia Karelina was arrested in Yekaterinburg in February after returning to Russia to visit her family.

She pleaded guilty in her closed trial last week.

Prosectuors had sought a 15-year jail term which her lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, said was too severe for the nature of her infraction, and argued her cooperation in the investigation should earn her some good will in the court.

On Thursday, it emerged she had been handed a 12-year sentence to serve out in a general regime penal colony in Russia.

Karelina obtained US citizenship in 2021 after marrying an American and moving to Los Angeles, where she worked at a spa.

Russia’s FSB security service claimed she “proactively collected money in the interests of one of the Ukrainian organisations, which was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces”.

Karelina celebrating her US citizenship in 2021 (Ksenia Karelina via Facebook/First Department)

Karelina had gone on holiday with her partner Chris Van Heerden to Istanbul earlier this year. Van Heerden then returned to the US, while Karelina traveled onto Russia to see her family.

There, she was arrested for treason after she transferred $51.80 from her American bank account to the account of Razom for Ukraine, a New York-based charity, on the day that Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The charity previously said it was “appalled” by her 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.

Since her arrest, Karelina’s partner has been campaigning for her release.

“I believe America will bring her back to me,” Van Heerden told CNN earlier this year.

He told the Los Angeles Times in February that he had feared “it might be dangerous for her to go” onto Russia on her own “with everything going on with the war in Ukraine, but she reassured me that she was Russian and that everything would be fine.”

Ksenia Karelina, 33, pictured at the beginning of her trial (SOTAvision / Telegram)

“So, for her birthday in December, I bought her a ticket. She was so excited. Now, I am hitting myself over the head about it.”

Her conviction and sentencing comes just weeks after the US and Russia completed a massive prisoner swap involving 24 people following many months of negotiations and concessions from other European countries.

Among those released was Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich who was also arrested on espionage charges while he was visiting Yekaterinburg.

It was the largest prisoner swap between the two nations in post-Soviet history – but several Americans remain behind in Russian prisons, including Karelina.

Her lawyer told reporters last week that once a verdict was reached her legal team would begin working toward including her in a future prisoner swap.