L.A. woman held in Russia faces 15 years in prison in 'treason' trial

A woman sits in a glass cage in a Russian court.

Staff Writer

Aug. 8, 2024 Updated 1:34 PM PT

Russian state prosecutors have asked for a 15-year sentence for a dual U.S.-Russia citizen from Los Angeles held in Russian prison on treason charges since late January, according to Russian news agencies and family advocates in the U.S.

Ksenia Karelina, an amateur ballerina who worked at a skin care clinic in Beverly Hills before her arrest, had been arrested while visiting her parents in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Russian media reports said she pleaded guilty in a closed court session on Wednesday.

The Interfax news agency quoted Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushalov, who said a sentencing hearing is scheduled for Aug. 15.

Her loved ones are waiting, “angry and heartbroken,” said her boyfriend in West L.A.

A Russian civil rights group that tracks detentions, Perviy Otdel, or First Department, says the charges stem from $51.80 Karelina donated while living in the U.S. to Razom for Ukraine. The New York-based organization, whose name translates to Together for Ukraine, works on issues that include humanitarian aid and disaster relief.

Russia’s Federal Security Service, which announced Karelina’s arrest in February, said at the time that she “proactively collected money in the interests of one of the Ukrainian organizations, which was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”

Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 in an ongoing war condemned by the U.S. and United Nations. The government under President Vladimir Putin has passed laws criminalizing dissent, including criticism of the war in Ukraine.

Chris Van Heerden, Karelina’s boyfriend she lived with in West L.A., said in an interview Thursday that he was “angry and heartbroken.”

“I don’t know why her lawyers told her to plead guilty. I’m learning everything through the media,” Van Heerden, who said Karelina donated to the group but was not otherwise involved in political advocacy related to Russia’s war or U.S. foreign policy.

“I watched the American prisoners that just got released. I wish she was with them,” said Van Heerden, referring to a U.S.-Russia prisoner exchange involving several countries that included the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan. Russia accused both of espionage, charges the U.S. said were false.

Karelina, 32, arrived in Russia on Jan. 2 to visit family in Yekaterinburg, the city of 1.5 million where she grew up that is more than a thousand miles east of Moscow.

According to friends and family who had been in touch with her before her arrest, her phone was confiscated by Russian authorities upon arrival in the country. That is possibly how Russian officials gained access to her financial transactions to determine that she made the charity donation. She was then allowed to visit her family and instructed to not travel outside the local area.

Family and friends said Russian authorities arrested Karelina, who also goes by the last name Khavana — her married name before a divorce — on Jan. 27, when she traveled to meet Russian officials to retrieve her phone. State media first reported her detention on Feb. 20 after the Federal Security Service, known as the FSB, announced the arrest.

The news shocked the friends Karelina had made in Los Angeles since moving to the city in 2015. She had arrived in the U.S. a few years earlier and studied in the Baltimore area, including at the University of Maryland. Karelina became a U.S. citizen in 2021. Photos from that time on the Russian social media platform VK show her smiling as she stood next to American flags. Her profile says that she graduated from Ural Federal University in Yekaterinburg.

Van Heerden, a South African boxer also known as”The Heat,” said he is hoping that the State Department will designate Karelina as “wrongfully detained.” He believes the label could speed up diplomatic talks to get Karelina returned to Los Angeles.

But there are other complications. Russian authorities typically do not engage in negotiations over prisoner swaps until after a trial. And unlike several Americans recently released from Russian detention, Karelina holds Russian and U.S. citizenship. Experts say that means Russia is likely to treat her solely as a Russian citizen.

Speaking at a news conference on June 20, where he was asked about Karelina, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller reiterated that detail.

“As we always make clear, we take seriously our commitment to assist U.S. citizens abroad and provide all appropriate assistance. ... I will say generally, when a U.S. citizen is detained abroad, consular officers seek to provide them with all appropriate assistance,” Miller said. “Russia has long taken the position that when it comes to dual nationals, they don’t have to respond to those requests for appropriate assistance. But that said, we continue to actively seek access to any individuals in this situation.”

Miller also added a warning.

“No American citizen for any reason should travel to Russia. And I know this is — sometimes comes down to a very painful choice for Americans who have family members in Russia, sometimes family members with health problems, that they want to see,” he said. “But you run a tremendous risk by traveling to Russia of being detained, being imprisoned, being convicted. And so we continue to make clear to every American: Do not for any reason travel to Russia.”

Times staff writer Tracy Wilkinson contributed to this report.