US-Russian woman detained for treason said Russia was ‘safe’ before her trip there

LONDON - A Russian-American detained in Russia on a treason charge told her boyfriend that “it’s safe there” before she travelled to see relatives in Yekaterinburg, the woman’s former mother-in-law said.

The charge could result in up to 20 years in prison.

A Russian court on Feb 29 rejected an appeal by Ksenia Karelina, a 32-year-old resident of Los Angeles who was detained by the FSB security service on suspicion of raising funds for Ukraine’s armed forces, amid Russia’s invasion of its neighbour.

Karelina’s lawyer had asked the court to lift her detention and replace it with house arrest, state news agency RIA said.

The US embassy in Moscow was aware of the reports, but it could not comment further due to privacy restrictions, a spokesperson told Reuters.

A Russian lawyers’ group, Pervy Otdel, said it had information that Karelina had donated just over US$50 (S$67) from her US bank account on Feb 24, 2022 – the day Russia launched what it calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine – to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine.

Her former mother-in-law, Mrs Eleonora Srebroski, told Reuters by phone from Maryland that Karelina had made a small donation to Razom for Ukraine, a New York-based non-profit that sends assistance to the country.

Razom said earlier in February that it was “appalled” by Karelina’s arrest and that its activities focused on “humanitarian aid, disaster relief, education and advocacy”.

Mrs Srebroski said Karelina, who has been a US citizen since 2021, had decided to go to Yekaterinburg in January for a family visit, after her boyfriend surprised her with a plane ticket while they were on holiday in Turkey.

“I am Russian, I love Russia. There is nothing wrong in Yekaterinburg. It’s safe there,” Mrs Srebroski said that was how Karelina had assured her boyfriend.

Mrs Srebroski, who described Karelina as caring, sweet and “even more beautiful on the inside”, said her former daughter-in-law arrived in the United States in 2012 via a work-study programme in Maryland, where she met her son. The two got married in 2013.

Karelina’s former husband, Mr Yevgeny Khavana, said they split a few years later, and she moved to California, drawn by the warm weather and opportunities to resume practising ballet, which she had done in her youth.

Her current employer, Ciel Spa in Beverly Hills, California, identified her as an aesthetician in an Instagram post demanding her release, saying “to know Ksenia is to love her”.

Karelina had regularly travelled to Russia to see her family, including her grandparents and a young sister, Mrs Srebroski said, but stopped after January 2021 as Western-imposed sanctions made flights to Russia too expensive and onerous.

Mr Khavana said he was shocked by Karelina’s arrest.

“She is really not into politics at all,” he told Reuters. “She wasn’t on someone’s side in this war. She was against killing, pretty much, on either side.”

Karelina’s page on VKontakte, Russia’s answer to Facebook, features photos of herself and friends on the beach and on trips, but no political messaging.

“I don’t know why she went back,” Mrs Srebroski said. “Russian authorities are killing their own people.” REUTERS