Ksenia Karelina, Imprisoned in Russia for Donating $51 to a Pro-Ukraine Charity, Is Freed
An American citizen detained in Russia was released on Thursday in an early morning prisoner exchange.
Russian authorities arrested Ksenia Karelina, who lives in Los Angeles, in early 2024 during a visit to see her 90-year-old grandmother and other family members. Law enforcement flagged her at the airport after noting she had a U.S. passport and searched her phone, where they found a $51.80 donation she made to Razom, a pro-Ukraine charity, in 2022 while she was in the States.
Karelina was initially arrested for “petty hooliganism.” The government then raised the charge to treason, for which she received a 12-year sentence following a closed-door trial. Born in Yekaterinburg, Russia, she immigrated to the U.S. in 2012 and became a citizen in 2021.
“American Ksenia Karelina is on a plane back home to the United States,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement posted on X. “She was wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year and President Trump secured her release. @POTUS will continue to work for the release of ALL American
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