Russian ballerina jailed for 12 years for donating £39 to charity

A Russian ballerina who is also a US citizen has been arrested and jailed in Russia for donating £39 to a charity that helps Ukraine.

Ksenia Karelina, who has US and Russian citizenship, will spend the next 12 years of her life behind bars after being convicted of treason on Thursday, August 15.

The ballerina had travelled from Los Angeles to visit her 90-year-old grandmother, parents and younger sister in their home in southwestern Russia when she was detained in February 2024.

Three days before she was scheduled to return home, Karelina was handcuffed in the city of Yekaterinburg.

Russia’s FSB searched her mobile and found that she made a donation to Razom, a charity that provides aid to Ukraine, on the first day of the full-scale invasion in 2022.

Initially, the 33-year-old had been arrested on hooliganism charges, but the state later accused her of “state treason”.

Investigators said 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.”

But Razom, the non-profit which is based in New York, denies providing military aid to Ukraine.

Karelina pleaded guilty to the trumped-up charges last week at a closed trial. It is expected that she will be sent to a “general regime colony”.

Her boyfriend, boxer Chris van Heerden, said last week that the trial had been upsetting and nerve-wracking.

“I could not for the life of me put myself in her shoes and just even imagine what she is going through,” he said.

Karelina’s attorney, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed that he planned to appeal the verdict.

“She admitted guilt in part in transferring the funds, but did not admit her intent to transfer the funds to the organizations where they were most likely received,” he said.

“She did not assume that the funds she transferred would be used for anti-Russian actions,” he said, according to the Interfax news agency.

Karelina was born in Russia and emigrated to the US in 2012 via a work-study programme, receiving American citizenship in 2021.

Before being arrested, she worked as an aesthetician at Ciel Spa in Los Angeles.