Russian-American woman admits guilt in treason case, Russian state media reports

Russian-American dual national Ksenia Karelina is admitting guilt in a treason case in Russia, her lawyer told state news agency TASS on Wednesday.

TASS quoted Karelina’s lawyer Mikhail Mushailov as saying his client admits the charge. The next hearing is scheduled for August 8, TASS reported.

Karelina, 33, was detained in Yekaterinburg earlier this year while visiting her grandparents. She is accused of donating $51.80 to a Ukrainian charity in the United States, according to her employer, a spa in Beverly Hills, California.

Karelina is a Los Angeles resident and amateur ballerina who became a US citizen in 2021. She entered Russia in January but the US did not learn of her arrest until February 8.

Chris Van Heerden, Karelina’s boyfriend, told CNN he had bought her ticket to visit the country as a birthday gift. He said she was “proud to be Russian, and she doesn’t watch the news. She doesn’t intervene with anything about the war.”

“I believe America will bring her back to me,” Van Heerden said.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has accused Karelina of taking part in “public actions to support the Kyiv regime.”

The organization to which Karelina reportedly gave money, the New York-based non-profit Razom for Ukraine, said it was “appalled” by her detention.

This is a developing story. More details to follow.