A dual US-Russian citizen being held in Russia on suspicion of treason for giving $50 to a Ukrainian charity had traveled there to spend New Year’s Eve with her family, The Post has learned.
Ksenia Karelina’s American mother-in-law and ex-husband are now pleading for help to have her freed and brought home to the US.
The 32-year-old amateur ballerina who manages a Beverly Hills spa, was first arrested in January by local police in her hometown of Yekaterinburg and accused of “petty hooliganism,” according to Russia’s ura.ru website.
But she was then charged with treason and held by the FSB, strongman president Vladimir Putin’s security service, before being paraded blindfolded and in handcuffs by masked security agents in a Russian courtroom Tuesday.
“The young woman was using coarse, obscene language in front of other citizens, was behaving rudely and defiantly,” court officials told the local news outlet.
When police were called, their arrival was said to have “riled” Karelina. She allegedly ignored the officers’ commands and violently resisted arrest.
On Jan. 29, Karelina was found guilty of hooliganism and sentenced to 14 days in jail.
She filed a complaint about her arrest the next day, but the court rejected it. She was then charged under Article 275 of Russia’s Criminal Code, which carries a prison term of 12 to 20 years.
Karelina now faces life in prison with the FSB alleging she donated $51.80 to Razom, a New York-based non-profit, and accusing her of being part of efforts to arm Ukrainian troops.
“Razom is appalled by reports that a U.S.-Russian dual national has been arrested by Russian authorities for purportedly making a charitable donation to Razom for Ukraine in the immediate aftermath of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, said Dora Chomiak, Razom’s CEO in a statement to The Post. “Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly shown that he holds no sovereign border, foreign nationality, or international treaty above his own narrow interest. His regime attacks civil society activists who stand up for freedom and democracy. Razom calls on the U.S. government to continue to do everything in its power to demand that President Putin release all those unjustly detained by Russia and to hold Russia’s political and military leadership accountable for their unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.”
It is unclear how they could know about any donations an American-based charity had received. A spokeswoman for the charity said they abide by privacy laws and do not share information about donors.
“Since February 2022, she has been proactively collecting funds in the interests of one of the Ukrainian organizations, which were subsequently used to purchase tactical medicine items, equipment, weapons and ammunition by the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Russia’s Federal Security Service said in a statement.
Razom, which did not return a request for comment, raises money for programs including medical aid such as tourniquets, ambulances and hospital equipment for the war-torn country. There is no suggestion it pays for arms.
Who is Ksenia Karelina, the Russian ballerina accused of treason?
- Amateur ballerina Ksenia Karelina, 32, was arrested in Russia on suspicion of treason, according to Moscow officials.
- The US-Russian dual citizen allegedly donated $51 to Ukraine’s war effort through the organization Razom. According to Russia’s Federal Security Service, Karelina has been “proactively collecting funds in the interests of one of the Ukrainian organizations.”
- The Los Angeles resident manages a spa in Beverly Hills and was in Russia to celebrate New Year’s Eve with her family.
- “We are all in shock,” Eleonora Srebroski, Karelina’s former mother-in-law, told The Post. “She is just a wonderful soul. She would never do anything evil to anyone.”
- Former US Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor called the arrest a “middle finger” to the US from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
- Karelina’s ex-husband Evgeny Khavana told The Post that she was arrested over “stupid politics.”
- The dancer faces a sentence of 12 years to life in prison.
The State Department said officials will seek consular access to Karelina, who became a US citizen in 2021 and is the latest American to be held by Putin’s internal security services. State Dept. spokesman Matthew Miller said that Russia does not recognize dual citizenship.
“We are all in shock,” said Eleonora Srebroski, Karelina’s former mother-in-law in an interview with The Post Tuesday. “She is just a wonderful soul. She would never do anything evil to anyone.
“Knowing Ksenia, she would never do anything criminal. We are so worried because we are reading stories about [Alexei] Navalny’s supporters arrested for mourning him.
“Her mom and dad had recently divorced and she wanted to see the family,” said Srebroski, adding that Karelina has a younger sister in Russia.
“She was supposed to be back by now. My son was calling her, and when we found out what had happened, we have all been in shock. He told me this morning ‘let’s think what we can do to help her.’ We don’t want to cause her any trouble.”
Srebroski said her son Evgeny married Karelina in 2013, a year after she first arrived in the US on a work/study trip from her hometown near the Ural Mountains in central Russia.
The couple, who were based in Maryland, divorced a few years ago, said Srebroski, and Karelina moved to California.
Karelina studied dance at the Sergei Diaghilev Lyceum before graduating from Ural Federal University in 203, according to her social media profile, and remains a keen amateur, displaying her skill in a photoshoot on the Brooklyn Bridge and in Brooklyn’s Dumbo.
“Dancing was a childhood hobby for her,” Srebroski said.
Meanwhile Isabella Koretz, boss at Ciel Spa where Karelina worked as a skincare specialist, paid tribute to her “beloved esthetician and friend” and called for her release.
“To know Ksenia is to love her and this heartbreaking news is so difficult to share but it must be done to spread her story and seek justice,” she said in a statement to The Post.
Karelina was arrested in the same city as Evan Gershkovich, the 32-year-old Wall Street Journal reporter whose arrest on charges of spying have drawn international condemnation of Putin’s assault on journalism.
The Moscow City Court rejected an appeal filed by Gershkovich’s lawyers against his detention Tuesday, upholding an earlier ruling to keep him in custody until March 30.
Karelina’s detention casts more light on Putin’s crackdown on dissent days after Russian authorities announced Navalny’s death in prison.
Navalny, Putin’s fiercest domestic critic, fell unconscious and died suddenly on Friday after a walk at the “Polar Wolf” penal colony above the Arctic Circle where he was serving a three-decade sentence, the prison service said.
But all signs point to him being poisoned, with the White House preparing Tuesday to unveil new sanctions on Putin’s regime after his death.
