Russia’s most important safety company stated on Tuesday that it had arrested a twin citizen of Russia and the USA on accusations of committing state treason by elevating funds for Ukraine.
The Federal Safety Service, generally known as the F.S.B., recognized the detainee as a 33-year-old girl who lives in Los Angeles. It stated in a press release that she had raised cash for a Ukrainian group that purchased weapons and different tools for Ukraine’s navy.
Perviy Otdel, a gaggle 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 the girl had been arrested within the metropolis of Yekaterinburg in central Russia. RIA Novosti, a Russian state information company, revealed a video that it stated confirmed the girl, carrying 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 invaluable belongings to be traded for high-profile Russians held in custody in the USA and different Western nations.
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 raise his pretrial detention. It dominated that Mr. Gershkovich — who, alongside together with his employer and the American authorities, has denied the cost in opposition to him — should keep in jail at the very least till the top of March.
A State Division spokesman, Matthew Miller, informed reporters on Tuesday that the USA had requested consular help for the girl, however “that has not but been granted.” Mr. Miller added that Russia in impact “doesn’t acknowledge” twin citizenship and considers such folks “to be Russian residents firstly.”
Mr. Miller declined to invest on whether or not the USA may formally decide the girl to be “wrongfully detained,” because it does two People already in custody in Russia, Mr. Gershkovich and Paul Whelan. Such a willpower would imply the USA considers a detainee to be the equal of a hostage, permitting for particular efforts to win their 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 scholar accused of photographing Russian Military formations in his city.
A courtroom in Yekaterinburg was scheduled to listen to an enchantment by the newly arrested girl on Tuesday, in response to the courtroom’s web site, which additionally stated that she was accused of treason.
The Russian information outlet Media Zona recognized her as Ksenia Karelina. Perviy Otdel recognized her as Ksenia (Karelina) Khavana, with Karelina seemingly being her maiden identify.
In accordance with Ms. Karelina’s profile on VK, a Russian social community, she obtained United States citizenship in 2021. Her profile, which additionally recognized her as a scholar on the College of Maryland in Baltimore, stated that she had graduated from Urals Federal College in Yekaterinburg in 2014.
Perviy Otdel stated that the girl was arrested on the finish of January and accused of treason on Feb. 7.
Michael Crowley contributed reporting.
