A Russian courtroom has sentenced newbie ballet dancer Ksenia Karelina to 12 years in jail for treason for donating $51 (£39) to a charity supporting Ukraine.
Karelina, who holds American and Russian citizenship, pleaded responsible final week after a closed-door trial.
She has been dwelling in Los Angeles and have become a U.S. citizen in 2021.
Prosecutors sought a 15-year jail sentence. The Yekaterinburg courtroom discovered her responsible of treason and sentenced her to imprisonment within the penal colony of the Normal Energy.
Russia’s FSB safety service accused Karelina of elevating funds for a Ukrainian group that provides weapons to the Ukrainian navy.
The Razom charity stated it was “shocked” to listen to of the newbie ballet dancer’s arrest.
In June, she stood trial in the identical courtroom as Wall Road Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was imprisoned on espionage fees however who was arrested earlier this month as a member of the U.S. and He was launched as a part of a significant prisoner trade from different nations.
Her boyfriend, boxer Chris Van Heerden, stated final week the trial had been upsetting and nerve-wracking.
“For the lifetime of me, I could not put myself in her footwear and even think about what she was going by way of,” he stated.
