The lawyer for American Ksenia Karelina, accused in Russia of high treason, said she had pleaded guilty, the pro-Kremlin news agency RIA Novosti reported on Wednesday. According to Russian human rights activists, the reason for initiating the criminal case was that Karelina donated $50 to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine.
Ksenia Karelina, 32, is an American who also has Russian citizenship. She was detained on January 27 this year in Yekaterinburg in the Urals. Two weeks later, a Russian court ruled to keep her in custody.
According to the Russian advocacy group human rights First Day, February 24, 2022, the day when Russia started in Ukraine armed invasion – Karelina transferred just over $50 from her bank account in the United States to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine. This – as the Pervyi Otdel group pointed out – was the reason for initiating a criminal case against her.
Ksenia Karelina in court. Photo from June 2023 Press Service of the Sverdlovsk Regional Court
RIA Novosti reported, citing the American's lawyer, that she “pleaded guilty.” RIA Novosti also reported that the consul general appeared in court on Wednesday USA Stuart Wilson, who was not allowed into the courtroom due to the “closed nature of the trial”.
Main image source: Press Service of the Sverdlovsk Regional Court