Who is Ksenia Karelina? Russian-US ballerina accused of 'high treason' by Moscow
Karelina's LinkedIn profile details her career as a manager at Ciel Spa Beverly Hills from 2019.
Ksenia Karelina, a modeland ballet dancer, is the latest target on Kremlin’s radar. The 32-year-old with dual Russian-American citizenship was arrested by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) on Tuesday (Feb 20) on grounds of suspected fundraising for the Ukrainian Army.
The FSB did not disclose the woman's identity, but the independent Russian-language media outlet Mediazona identified the individual detained as Ksenia Karelina.
Karelina, a resident of Los Angeles was detained in Yekaterinburg, Urals in Russia on charges of “treason”, as per Politico.
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According to FSB, she participated in fundraising efforts for Kyiv and was also part of pro-Ukraine public rallies.
The news of her arrest broke on Tuesday when several Russian news outlets released a video showing a woman in the courtroom with handcuffs and eyes covered. It is still unknown when the video was shot.
Who is Ksenia Karelina? How the Russian-American model came under Kremlin’s radar
According to her Facebook page, Karelina attended the SPDiaghilev school in Yekaterinburg for ballet training. After obtaining a degree from Ural Federal University in 2013, she started her career in Baltimore, Maryland, in 2014.
Karelina's LinkedIn profile details her career as a manager at Ciel Spa Beverly Hills since 2019.
She became an American citizen back in 2021 and soon afterwards married an American man, whose identity is still unknown, as per Daily Mail. The media outlet also shared some pictures of her that she used to share on her social media.
She was first arrested for minor offences, but later she was charged with ‘high treason’, as per the Russian courts’ database. A judge in Yekaterinburg declined an appeal against the pre-trial detention of Karelina on February 20.
The Pervy Otdel group, a team of lawyers handling espionage and treason cases, reported that Karelina was detained by police on January 27. It disclosed that the FSB arrested Karelina for transferring $51.80 from an American bank to the Ukrainian ‘Razom’ charity.
The FSB alleges that the funds Karelina contributed “were used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, attack tools, and ammunition".
However, at the time Karelina donated to ‘Razom’ in February 2022, the platform was openly fundraising for medical supplies, as per the website announcement.
The court documents also revealed that Karelina was arrested for swearing in public near a movie theatre.
In Russia, treason accusations are pretty serious and carry hefty jail terms. In the past, a total of 63 people have been prosecuted for treason since 2023, and 37 others have been found guilty.
(With inputs from agencies)