A Russian-American ballerina named Ksenia Karelina was reportedly arrested by Vladimir Putin‘s secret security force and this month accused of ‘high treason’, RadarOnline.com can report.
A shocking development follows Putin’s opposition leader Alexei Navalny died mysteriously on Friday while imprisoned in a Russian penal colony, it was revealed that Karelina was arrested on Tuesday and charged with high treason for allegedly raising $51 for the Ukrainian military.
According to Daily emailthe dual nationality ballerina was initially arrested in January in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg for ‘swearing’ outside a cinema.
Yekaterinburg was reportedly the same Russian city where the Wall Street Journal reporter was Evan Gershkovich was arrested on accusations of espionage in March 2023.
A subsequent investigation launched after Karelina’s arrest last month revealed that the ballerina allegedly transferred $51.80 from a US bank account to a Ukrainian charity called Razom.
Russia’s Federal Security Service accused the 33-year-old Los Angeles resident of “proactively raising money in the interests of a Ukrainian organization since February 2022, which was then used to purchase tactical medicines, equipment, weapons and ammunition for the armed forces . of Ukraine.”
The 33-year-old Russian-American ballerina was initially arrested on charges of ‘petty hooliganism’. These charges were reportedly upgraded to ‘high treason’ after she was taken into custody.
She also appeared in a video posted to Telegram where she was seen being led into a courtroom in handcuffs with her face blurred.
Karelina faces 20 years in prison in Russia if she is found guilty of the ‘high treason’ charges against her.