Russian court sentences US-Russian woman to 12 years in prison over $50 charity donation
Ksenia Khavana jailed for treason over donation to US charity that helps Ukraine
A Russian court on Thursday sentenced the US-Russian dual national Ksenia Khavana to 12 years in prison on a treason conviction for allegedly raising money for the Ukrainian military.
The rights group the First Department said the charges stemmed from a $51 (£40) donation to a US charity that helps Ukraine.
Khavana, whom Russian authorities identify by her birth name of Karelina, was arrested in Ekaterinburg in February. She pleaded guilty in her closed trial last week, news reports said.
Khavana reportedly obtained US citizenship after marrying an American and moving to Los Angeles. She had returned to Russia to visit her family.
Russia’s federal security service said she “proactively collected money in the interests of one of the Ukrainian organisations, which was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces”.
Since sending troops into Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has cracked down on dissent and passed laws that criminalise criticism of the operation in Ukraine and remarks considered to discredit the Russian military. Concern has risen since then that Russia could be targeting US nationals for arrest.
In the largest Russia-West prisoner exchange since the end of the cold war, Russia this month released the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and American corporate security executive Paul Whelan, who were imprisoned on espionage convictions, and the US-Russian dual national Alsu Kurmasheva, a Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe journalist sentenced to six-and-a-half years for spreading “false information” about the Russian military.
Russia also released several prominent opposition figures who were imprisoned for criticising the Ukraine military operation.
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