A Russian-American woman detained in Russia on a treason charge carrying up to 20 years in prison told her boyfriend “it’s safe there” before she travelled to see relatives in Yekaterinburg, the woman’s former mother-in-law said today.
A Russian court today rejected an appeal by Ksenia Karelina, a 32-year-old former ballerina who lives in Los Angeles, after she was detained by the FSB security service on suspicion of raising funds for Ukraine’s armed forces.
Her lawyer had asked the court to lift her detention and replace it with house arrest, state news agency RIA reported.
The US embassy in Moscow was aware of the reports but could not comment further due to privacy restrictions, a spokesperson told news agency Reuters.
A Russian lawyers’ group, Pervy Otdel, said it had information that Ms Karelina had donated just over $50 (£40) from her US bank account on 24 February 2022 – the day that Russia launched its invasion – to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine.
Her former mother-in-law, Eleonora Srebroski, told news agency Reuters by phone from Maryland that Ms Karelina had made a small donation to Razom for Ukraine, a New York-based nonprofit organisation that sends assistance to the country.
Razom said in a statement earlier this month that it was “appalled” by Ms Karelina’s arrest and that its activities focused on “humanitarian aid, disaster relief, education and advocacy.”
Ms Srebroski said Ms Karelina, who has been a US citizen since 2021, had decided to go to Yekaterinburg in January for a family visit after her boyfriend surprised her with a plane ticket while they were on holiday in Turkey.
“I am Russian, I love Russia, there is nothing wrong in Yekaterinburg, it’s safe there,” Ms Srebroski said was how Ms Karelina assured her boyfriend.
Ms Srebroski, who described Karelina as caring, sweet and “even more beautiful on the inside,” said her former daughter-in-law arrived in the US in 2012 via a work-study program in Maryland, where she met her son and the two got married in 2013.
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