Russia’s most important safety company mentioned on Tuesday that it had arrested a twin citizen of Russia and the United States on accusations of committing state treason by elevating funds for Ukraine.
The Federal Security Service, generally known as the F.S.B., recognized the detainee as a 33-year-old lady who lives in Los Angeles. It mentioned in an announcement that she had raised cash for a Ukrainian group that purchased weapons and different gear for Ukraine’s navy.
Perviy Otdel, a gaggle of Russian attorneys who specialise in circumstances involving accusations of treason and different politically charged allegations, mentioned that the lady had been accused of treason for sending simply over $50 to Razom for Ukraine, a New York-based nonprofit group that sends help to the nation.
The F.S.B. mentioned that she had been arrested within the metropolis of Yekaterinburg, in central Russia. RIA Novosti, a Russian state information company, printed a video that it mentioned confirmed the lady, sporting a white hat that coated her eyes, being handcuffed and escorted by masked safety service officers.
If convicted, she may resist 20 years in jail.
The detention of American residents on Russian soil in recent times has raised suspicions that the Kremlin views them as beneficial belongings to be traded for high-profile Russians held in custody within the United States and different Western nations.
On the identical day that the lady’s arrest was introduced, a Moscow courtroom rejected an enchantment by Evan Gershkovich, an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal whom Russia arrested final spring on an espionage cost, to raise his pretrial detention. It dominated that Mr. Gershkovich — who, alongside together with his employer and the American authorities, has denied the cost in opposition to him — should keep in jail not less than till the tip of March.
A State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller, advised reporters on Tuesday that the United States had requested consular help for the lady, however “that has not yet been granted.” He mentioned that Russia in impact “does not recognize” twin citizenship and considers such individuals “to be Russian citizens first and foremost.”
A Russian information outlet, Media Zona, recognized the detainee as Ksenia Karelina. Perviy Otdel, the authorized group, recognized her as Ksenia (Karelina) Khavana, with Karelina almost definitely being her maiden identify. Perviy Otdel mentioned she was arrested on the finish of January and accused of treason on Feb. 7.
According to Ms. Karelina’s profile on VK, a Russian social community, she obtained U.S. citizenship in 2021. Her profile, which recognized her as a scholar on the University of Maryland in Baltimore, mentioned that she had graduated from Urals Federal University in Yekaterinburg in 2014.
In an interview at her residence in Maryland on Tuesday, Ms. Karelina’s former mother-in-law, Eleanora Srebroski, mentioned that Ms. Karelina was as soon as married to her son, Evgeny. She grew up in Yekaterinburg and got here to the United States for a work-study program, working that summer time at a fruit stand in Randallstown, Md., promoting fruit and veggies. (Ms. Srebroski, 56, is herself from Russia, and grew up about 120 miles away from Yekaterinburg, she mentioned.)
The couple married in 2013, however after they cut up up about two years later, Ms. Karelina left Maryland for Los Angeles, the place she labored at a Beverly Hills resort as an aesthetician and spa supervisor, Ms. Srebroski mentioned.
She mentioned that she had realized of the arrest solely that day, when a reporter referred to as.
“She’s a beautiful, beautiful person,” mentioned Mrs. Srebroski. “She just brings light everywhere she goes.”
She mentioned she wouldn’t be stunned if her former daughter-in-law had donated cash for Ukraine: “Anyone who is hurt, she is on their side.”
Mr. Miller, the State Department spokesman, declined to take a position on whether or not the United States would possibly formally decide the lady to be “wrongfully detained,” because it has for 2 Americans already in custody in Russia, Mr. Gershkovich and Paul Whelan. Such a dedication would imply the United States considers a detainee to be the equal of a hostage, permitting for particular efforts to win his or her launch.
The variety of state treason circumstances in Russia has been rising steadily since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. Last yr, about 50 individuals had been accused of the offense, in response to Perviy Otdel, starting from high-profile critics of the Kremlin to a scholar accused of photographing Russian Army formations in his city.
A courtroom in Yekaterinburg was scheduled to listen to an enchantment by the lady whose arrest was introduced on Tuesday, in response to the courtroom’s web site, which additionally mentioned that she was accused of treason.
Campbell Robertson, Michael Crowley and Kitty Bennett contributed reporting.
