Russia’s essential safety company mentioned on Tuesday that it had arrested a twin citizen of Russia and the US on accusations of committing state treason by elevating funds for Ukraine.
The Federal Safety Service, often called the F.S.B., recognized the detainee as a 33-year-old lady who lives in Los Angeles. It mentioned in an announcement that she had raised cash for a Ukrainian group that purchased weapons and different tools for Ukraine’s army.
Perviy Otdel, a bunch of Russian attorneys who concentrate on instances involving accusations of treason and different politically charged allegations, mentioned that the lady had been accused of treason for sending simply over $50 to Razom for Ukraine, a New York-based nonprofit group that sends help to the nation.
The Russian information outlet Media Zona recognized her as Ksenia Karelina. Perviy Otdel recognized her as Ksenia (Karelina) Khavana, with Karelina doubtless being her maiden identify.
The F.S.B. mentioned that the lady had been arrested within the metropolis of Yekaterinburg in central Russia. RIA Novosti, a Russian state information company, printed a video that it mentioned confirmed the lady, sporting a white hat that lined her eyes, being handcuffed and escorted by masked safety service officers.
If convicted, she might withstand 20 years in jail.
The detention of Americans on Russian soil in recent times has raised suspicions that the Kremlin views them as useful belongings to be traded for high-profile Russians held in custody in the US and different Western nations.
On the identical day that the lady’s arrest was introduced, a Moscow court docket rejected an enchantment by Evan Gershkovich, an American reporter for The Wall Avenue Journal whom Russia arrested final spring on an espionage cost, to raise his pretrial detention. It dominated that Mr. Gershkovich — who, alongside together with his employer and the American authorities, has denied the cost towards him — should keep in jail at the least till the top of March.
The variety of state treason instances in Russia has been rising steadily since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. Final 12 months, about 50 individuals have been accused of the offense, based on Perviy Otdel, starting from high-profile critics of the Kremlin to a pupil accused of photographing Russian Military formations in his city.
A court docket in Yekaterinburg was scheduled to listen to an enchantment by the newly arrested lady on Tuesday, based on the court docket’s web site, which additionally mentioned that she was accused of treason.
Based on Ms. Karelina’s profile on VK, a Russian social community, she acquired United States citizenship in 2021. Her profile, which additionally recognized her as a pupil on the College of Maryland in Baltimore, mentioned that she had graduated from Urals Federal College in Yekaterinburg in 2014.
Perviy Otdel mentioned that the lady was arrested on the finish of January and accused of treason on Feb. 7.
