Russian-American ballerina Ksenia Karelina is facing a potential 15-year prison sentence in Russia after pleading guilty to treason charges.
Prosecutors claim that Karelina, who holds dual citizenship, donated money to a Ukrainian charity, which they allege was used to purchase tactical supplies for the Ukrainian military.
Arrest and Charges
Karelina was arrested in Yekaterinburg, approximately 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) east of Moscow, while visiting family in February.
Her case has made headlines, as it comes just one week after the largest prisoner exchange between Russia and the West since the Cold War, involving 24 individuals detained across seven countries.
Despite Karelina's cooperation with the investigation, her lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, argued that the 15-year sentence in a penal colony sought by prosecutors is excessively harsh.
Mushailov also noted that Karelina could not have been included in the recent prisoner exchange because such exchanges can only occur after a court verdict has been finalized.
"After the verdict, of course, we will work in this direction," Mushailov told reporters.
Karelina, who lives in Los Angeles and became a US citizen in 2021, had been away from Russia for several years.
She returned in January to visit family and has been unable to go back to the US since her arrest.
Reports suggest that she was charged with treason after investigators found she had donated about $50 to Razom, a charity supporting Ukraine. The charity said it was "appalled" by her arrest.
Broader Context
Her arrest comes amid a wider crackdown on dissent in Russia. Last year, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree increasing the maximum sentence for treason to life in prison, up from 20 years.
Karelina's partner, Chris Van Heerden, has been campaigning for her release and told the BBC that she was "proud to be Russian" and believed it was safe for her to travel there. He has urged the US government to help free her from Russian detention.
Karelina was detained in the same city where US journalist Evan Gershkovich was arrested on espionage charges in March last year.
Gershkovich was one of 16 prisoners exchanged on August 1, in a swap that also saw eight Russian prisoners released from jails in the US, Norway, Germany, Poland, and Slovenia.
