Media Coverage
Here are some of the articles that have covered Ksenia’s arrest. Please check back for updates and share the most recent articles with your social media networks to support Ksenia.
Ksenia Karelina: Russia sentences US-Russian citizen to 12 years in prison for treason - Reuters 8/15/24
Dual Russian-American citizen Ksenia Karelina was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Thursday after a Russian court found her guilty of treason for donating money to a charity supporting Ukraine.
The Los Angeles spa worker pleaded guilty at her closed trial in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, where her case was heard by the same court and judge that convicted Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich of espionage in July.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby called the sentencing cruel and said the United States would continue to seek consular access to her and press for her release.
"It’s nothing less than vindictive cruelty. We’re talking about 50 bucks to try to alleviate the suffering of the people in Ukraine, and to call that treason is just absolutely ridiculous," Kirby told reporters.
Christopher van Heerden, Karelina’s boyfriend, said he was "angry and sad" at the 12-year sentence, and called on the U.S. State Department to declare her "wrongfully detained", a designation that would make winning her freedom a U.S. government priority.
Russian court gives 12-year treason sentence to Russian-American over $50 charity donation - CNN 8/15/24
A Russian court has sentenced a Russian-American woman to 12 years in prison for treason after she made a donation of just over $50 to a US-based charity supporting Ukraine.
Ksenia Karelina, 33, had pleaded guilty to the charges. She was detained in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg earlier this year while visiting her grandparents.
The verdict was announced Thursday after a closed-doors trial at Sverdlovsk regional court that ended last week. Investigators said Karelina had sent money to purchase equipment and ammunition for the Ukrainian army, RIA Novosti reported.
Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, told Russian media he would appeal the verdict.
John Kirby, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, said “I think the way we would describe this sentence of 12 years is vindictive cruelty.”
He added: “We’re talking about 50 bucks to try to alleviate the suffering of people and to call that treason, is just absolutely ludicrous.”
Russia seeks 15-year prison sentence for Russian-American Ksenia Karelina - CBS 8/8/24
Russian prosecutors are seeking a 15-year sentence for Russian-American aesthetician Ksenia Karelina, who pleaded guilty to treason after she was arrested for donating $51 to an American-based humanitarian group helping Ukrainians who suffered in the war, according to Russian state media.
Karelina's trial is being overseen by the judge that saw Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Her lawyer called the prosecutor's request for a 15-year sentence "harsh" and said he would "take all legally significant actions" to try to have his client included in a future prisoner exchange.
"After the verdict, of course, we will work in this direction," Karelina's lawyer said. "This is the client's desire, so I will take all legally significant actions to ensure that this is carried out."
As freed detainees rejoice, boyfriend worries about US citizen still held in Russia - Reuters 8/1/24
As the detainees released by Moscow in a Thursday's historic prisoner swap flew to freedom, the boyfriend of Russian-American Ksenia Karelina was heartbroken that she was not among them.
Her alleged crime: donating $51.80 to a charity that provides humanitarian aid to children and elderly people in Ukraine affected by Russia's war.
Still, the prisoner exchange gave Christopher van Heerden hope that Karelina might be allowed to return to the United States after her closed trial in a Russian court next week on treason charges.
"I'm happy for the people, the Americans, who have returned to their families," van Heerden told Reuters from the Los Angeles apartment the couple share. "This makes me hopeful. At the same time, I'm heartbroken and sad ... she's not on the list."
Treason charges after $50 for Ukraine: desperate battle to free LA ballerina held in Russia - The Guardian 3/9/24
It could be the making of a fairytale – a love story about a ballerina and a boxer. Instead, it turned into a nightmare. The amateur ballerina Ksenia Karelina, an American and Russian dual citizen who celebrated the new year with a trip to Istanbul with her partner Chris van Heerden, a South African professional boxer, before heading to Russia to visit family, was arrested and detained by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) on 28 January in her hometown of Yekaterinburg, about 1,100 miles east of Moscow.
Karelina, 32, became a US citizen in 2021. She and Van Heerden met four years ago in Los Angeles, where they both live. At the time of her arrest, the couple had been romantically involved for only six months. They were a serious couple, though she had also become homesick for her family – especially her grandparents and eight-year-old sister.
“The plan was for her to go to Russia, come back and then I would propose,” said Van Heerden, 36.
After the trip to Turkey, Van Heerden returned to LA and, despite a US state department travel advisory warning against travel to Russia, Karelina went to visit her family. Van Heerden said she decided to enter the country on her Russian passport, betting she would attract less scrutiny.
When Karelina touched down on 2 January at Koltsovo airport, Russian authorities confiscated her iPhone. Van Heerden said at this point Karelina became afraid, but that over the next few weeks the FSB lulled her into complacency.
US ballerina reveals inhumane conditions in Russian prison: Shower once a week, lights stay on 24/7 - New York Post 3/4/24
Ksenia Karelina, the American ballerina jailed in Russia, is only allowed to shower once a week, has no access to hot water in her cell and is forced to sleep with the lights on, she revealed in a heartbreaking letter to her boyfriend.
Chris Van Heerden told “Fox & Friends First” on Monday that Karelina’s letter has shed some light on the appalling conditions in which she is being held while facing a treason charge for allegedly donating just $51 to a Ukrainian charity.
“She told me she’s got a 6 a.m. wake-up call, [got] to go to bed by 10 p.m. at night,” Heerden recounted. “The lights stay on all the time, so she’s got trouble sleeping.”
Karelina is permitted to go up to the jail’s roof for fresh air, but the guards have been known to lock the door and leave the inmates in the freezing cold for hours, so Hardeen said his girlfriend has opted not to venture outside anymore.
He also added that he found the jail policy mandating showers for detainees just once a week “crazy.”
Despite the harsh conditions inside the Yekaterinburg detention center — 870 miles east of Moscow — the 32-year-old Beverly Hills spa worker, has managed to hold onto her sense of humor.
Russian court denies appeal of Los Angeles woman held on ‘treason’ charge - Los Angeles Times 2/29/24
A judge in Russia on Thursday denied the appeal of a Los Angeles woman detained on suspicion of treason, apparently for making a small donation to a charity that aids Ukraine.
Russian media reported that Ksenia Karelina, a 32-year-old dual U.S.-Russia citizen, appeared by video link in Sverdlovsk Region Court in the city of Yekaterinburg, where Russian security officers arrested her on Jan 27. She was shown behind bars wearing a white long-sleeve shirt.
Reports said the judge rejected a request from a lawyer for Karelina that she be released from detention to stay under house arrest with her parents in Yekaterinburg before a trial.
“What’s happening to Ksenia is a terrible punishment,” said Isabella Koretz, a friend who owns the Ciel Spa in Beverly Hills, where Karelina is employed as an aesthetician. “Just to imagine that an American citizen is in Russian jail right now for making a donation to the victims of war and for having the audacity to visit her parents. Are these truly her crimes?”
“The American government and all of us here need to continue to fight for her release.”
Ksenia Karelina: Boyfriend of detained US-Russian woman appeals for her release - BBC 2/27/24
The boyfriend of a US-Russian citizen detained in Russia on suspicion of treason has called on the US government to help bring her home.
Ksenia Karelina, 33, was detained by Russian authorities in Yekaterinburg after travelling there on a family visit last month.
She was also accused of fundraising for Ukraine's armed forces.
Chris Van Heerden said his partner would be appearing in court on Thursday ahead of a trial beginning in April.
She was, he told BBC Radio 4's World Tonight programme, a "normal American citizen that made a mistake".
"She was so naive, she doesn't watch the news, she said, 'Chris look, I'm Russian, I'm safe, nothing is going to happen to me'," he said.
He described her as "proud to be Russian" - so proud about where she was from that she was comfortable travelling there.
American ballerina arrested for treason in Russia: Ksenia Karelina's boyfriend speaks - LiveNOW Fox 2/22/24
‘America will bring her back to me,’ says boyfriend of US-Russian citizen arrested for treason - CNN 2/21/24
When dual US-Russian citizen Ksenia Karelina boarded a flight from Istanbul to Russia in January, the last thing on her mind was that she would find herself behind bars weeks later on treason charges, her boyfriend told CNN on Wednesday.
Karelina “had no fear, she was so proud to be going home… she’s so proud of Russia,” Chris Van Heerden said, adding that the 33-year-old was excited to see her elderly grandparents in her hometown of Yekaterinburg. “She did not have a worry in the world,” he said in an interview with Brianna Keilar on OutFront.
It had been several years since the Los Angeles resident had returned to Russia, he said, which is why he bought her a ticket to Russia as she was feeling homesick. The pair had been on a four-day holiday to Istanbul. She went on to Russia, while he returned to California - and that’s when he discovered she had been detained.