Ballerina and Los Angeles resident Ksenia Karelina, 32, has been in prison in Yekaterinburg, Russia, since February this year. Ksenia, who is both a Russian and an American citizen, is accused of having donated around 500 kroner to Ukraine, Reuters reports, among others.
The trial proceedings, which started on Wednesday, will also continue on Thursday, when the verdict is expected to be announced.
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) accuses Ksenia of engaging in “public actions to support the Kiev regime.”
Ksenia risks 12 years in prison if she is convicted of the crime she is accused of.
Her lawyer tells the Russian state news agency TASS that her client has confessed to the crime.
The same day the invasion began
The transaction was allegedly made from Ksenia’s US bank account on February 24, 2022, the same day Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to her employer, a spa in Beverly Hills, California.
The boyfriend, Chris Van Heerden, states that Ksenia knew nothing about the war.
“She’s proud to be Russian, and she doesn’t watch the news. She didn’t know anything,” Chris Van Heerden told CNN.
“Horrified”
The New York-based charity, Razom, to which Ksenia donated money, says they are “appalled” by the indictment.
The charity supports a range of humanitarian projects, helping Ukrainian children and vulnerable communities affected by the war.
Ksenia, who since 2021 has also received American citizenship, went to Russia at the beginning of the year to celebrate the New Year with her family. She was later arrested in the country.
The boyfriend told CNN that he had bought her plane ticket to the country as a birthday present.