Karelin became a US citizen in 2021 and was arrested during a visit last January to Yekaterinburg.
A Russian court has sentenced amateur ballerina Xenia Karelin to 12 years in prison for treason for donating $51 to a charity supporting Ukraine.
The 32-year-old Karelin, who has American and Russian citizenship, pleaded guilty last week after a closed-door trial, according to the BBC.
Karelina lived in Los Angeles and became a US citizen in 2021.
She was arrested last January when she visited Yekaterinburg to see her family.
Prosecutors had asked for a 15-year prison sentence. The court in Yekaterinburg found her guilty of high treason and sentenced her to 12 years in prison.
As they broadcast Russian mediaKarelin made from the very first days of the war a donation of about 50 dollars to the non-governmental organization Razom, which provides material aid to Ukraine.
The court noted that this money “was used to purchase medical equipment, weapons and ammunition from the Ukrainian armed forces.”
“During the trial, the accused pleaded guilty,” the court said.
In a letter posted today by her lawyer on social media, Xenia Karelina thanks the people who supported her.
The sentencing comes as the US accuses Moscow of specifically targeting Americans in Russia to use them as a bargaining chip for swapping Russians held in Western countries.
The largest Cold War prisoner swap between Moscow and the West took place on August 1, in which mostly American journalists and Russian dissidents held in Russia were released in exchange for spies imprisoned in Western countries.
Source :Skai
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