American ballerina accused of spying stands trial in Moscow for $51 Ukraine donation

The trial of U.S.-Russian former ballerina Ksenia Karelina started on Thursday in Moscow, where she faces treason charges for allegedly acting as an American spy. 

Karelina, a dual-citizen, lives in Los Angeles but was detained while visiting family in Russia in February. Authorities allegedly had detained the 32-year-old for “petty hooliganism” before facing the higher charges of treason. 

Authorities claim that Karelina raised money for the Ukrainian army and took part in “public actions” that supported Ukraine while in the U.S., but her boyfriend, Chis Van Deerden, insisted that Karelina is “proud to be Russian, and she doesn’t watch the news. She doesn’t intervene with anything about the war.” 

Karelina had reportedly told her boyfriend that Russia was safe, and he had no reason to fear her visiting, according to her former mother-in-law Eleonora Sreborski. 

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Authorities reportedly examined Karelina’s phone, producing photos that appear to show her at an anti-Putin and anti-war protest in Los Angeles, where she was holding a sign declaring, “We want peace.” 

Karelina appeared in court wearing jeans and a green plaid shirt while she listened to the charges. One pro-Putin news outlet indicated that the charges related to money she sent to a Ukrainian charity – a total sum of $51.80 – claiming “she understood where and what she was sending.” 

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Ksenia Karelina, 32, in a selfie taken prior to her trip to Russia in January 2024.  (East2West)

Sreborski had claimed that Karelina donated, but that it was to Razom for Ukraine, which sends non-military aid to the country. 

Karelina, shortly after her arrest, tried to appeal her case, but the court rejected the motion and extended her pre-trial detention, which took place in a Siberian jail. Her trial will take place behind closed doors, with the media stressing that such cases rarely result in acquittal, according to Axios. 

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Evan Gershkovich, the American-born son of Soviet immigrants, was accredited by Russia’s Foreign Ministry to report in the country at the time of his arrest. (Photo by Natalia KOLESNIKOVA / AFP)

If found guilty, she would face a sentence of 12 years to life in prison, Reuters reported. However, a notice on the court’s website posted late on Thursday said the trial had been adjourned until Aug. 7, with no stated reason for the decision. 

Karelina’s case is one of over a dozen that have cropped up as Russia cracks down on anti-war sentiment in the country.

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Andrey Mineev, the judge presiding over Karelina’s case, will also hear the case of Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich, another 32-year-old American accused of espionage. Gershkovich has spent nearly 15 months detained in Moscow’s Lefortovo Prison, but Russia recently admitted that negotiations for his release have taken place.