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Russia’s major safety company stated on Tuesday that it had arrested a twin citizen of Russia and america on accusations of committing state treason by elevating funds for Ukraine.
The Federal Safety Service, often called the F.S.B., recognized the detainee as a 33-year-old girl who lives in Los Angeles. It stated in an announcement that she had raised cash for a Ukrainian group that purchased weapons and different tools for Ukraine’s army.
Perviy Otdel, a bunch of Russian legal professionals who specialise in circumstances involving accusations of treason and different politically charged allegations, stated that the girl had been accused of treason for sending simply over $50 to Razom for Ukraine, a New York-based nonprofit group that sends help to the nation.
The F.S.B. stated that she had been arrested within the metropolis of Yekaterinburg, in central Russia. RIA Novosti, a Russian state information company, printed a video that it stated confirmed the girl, sporting a white hat that coated her eyes, being handcuffed and escorted by masked safety service officers.
If convicted, she might withstand 20 years in jail.
The detention of Americans on Russian soil in recent times has raised suspicions that the Kremlin views them as helpful property to be traded for high-profile Russians held in custody in america and different Western international locations.
On the identical day that the girl’s arrest was introduced, a Moscow courtroom rejected an enchantment by Evan Gershkovich, an American reporter for The Wall Road Journal whom Russia arrested final spring on an espionage cost, to carry his pretrial detention. It dominated that Mr. Gershkovich — who, alongside along with his employer and the American authorities, has denied the cost towards him — should keep in jail no less than till the tip of March.
A State Division spokesman, Matthew Miller, instructed reporters on Tuesday that america had requested consular help for the girl, however “that has not but been granted.” He stated that Russia in impact “doesn’t acknowledge” twin citizenship and considers such folks “to be Russian residents in the beginning.”
A Russian information outlet, Media Zona, recognized the detainee as Ksenia Karelina. Perviy Otdel, the authorized group, recognized her as Ksenia (Karelina) Khavana, with Karelina more than likely being her maiden identify. Perviy Otdel stated she was arrested on the finish of January and accused of treason on Feb. 7.
In keeping with Ms. Karelina’s profile on VK, a Russian social community, she obtained U.S. citizenship in 2021. Her profile, which recognized her as a pupil on the College of Maryland in Baltimore, stated that she had graduated from Urals Federal College in Yekaterinburg in 2014.
In an interview at her house in Maryland on Tuesday, Ms. Karelina’s former mother-in-law, Eleanora Srebroski, stated that Ms. Karelina was as soon as married to her son, Evgeny. She grew up in Yekaterinburg and got here to america for a work-study program, working that summer season at a fruit stand in Randallstown, Md., promoting fruit and veggies. (Ms. Srebroski, 56, is herself from Russia, and grew up about 120 miles away from Yekaterinburg, she stated.)
The couple married in 2013, however after they break up up about two years later, Ms. Karelina left Maryland for Los Angeles, the place she labored at a Beverly Hills lodge as an aesthetician and spa supervisor, Ms. Srebroski stated.
Isabella Koretz, the president of Ciel Spa in Beverly Hills, Calif., confirmed that Ksenia Khavana has labored there for eight years. A press release put out by the spa stated that she had traveled to Russia to go to her 90-year-old grandmother, mother and father and a youthful sister, and that she was now being held in a Russian jail, wrongly accused of treason “for allegedly donating $51.80 to a Ukrainian charity within the U.S.”
“To know Ksenia is to like her,” the assertion stated. “This heartbreaking information is so troublesome to share, however it have to be completed to unfold her story and search justice.”
Mrs. Srebroski stated that she had discovered of the arrest of her former daughter-in-law solely that day, when a reporter known as.
“She’s a lovely, lovely particular person,” stated Mrs. Srebroski. “She simply brings gentle in all places she goes.”
She stated she wouldn’t be shocked if her former daughter-in-law had donated cash for Ukraine: “Anybody who’s damage, she is on their aspect.”
Mr. Miller, the State Division spokesman, declined to invest on whether or not america would possibly formally decide the girl to be “wrongfully detained,” because it has for 2 Individuals already in custody in Russia, Mr. Gershkovich and Paul Whelan. Such a willpower would imply america considers a detainee to be the equal of a hostage, permitting for particular efforts to win his or her launch.
The variety of state treason circumstances in Russia has been rising steadily since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. Final 12 months, about 50 folks had been accused of the offense, in response to Perviy Otdel, starting from high-profile critics of the Kremlin to a pupil accused of photographing Russian Military formations in his city.
A courtroom in Yekaterinburg was scheduled to listen to an enchantment by the girl whose arrest was introduced on Tuesday, in response to the courtroom’s web site, which additionally stated that she was accused of treason.
Campbell Robertson, Michael Crowley Kitty Bennett and Rachel Parsons contributed reporting.
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