LA Ballerina Faces Possible 15-Year Sentence In Russian Prison Colony: Report

LOS ANGELES, CA — A Los Angeles woman could spend 15 years in a Russian penal colony after pleading guilty this week to treason charges. Charges against the woman, a dual Russian-U.S. citizen, came after she donated money to a charity supporting Ukraine, the BBC reported.

Ksenia Karelina was arrested in the central Russian city of Yekaterinburg in February while she was in the country visiting family. She pled guilty to treason charges after donating $50 to Razom, a charity that supports Ukraine. Russian prosectors, who are seeking a 15-year sentence, accused Karelina of collecting money that was used to purchase tactical supplies for the Ukrainian army, the BBC reported.

Karelina obtained U.S. citizenship in 2021 when she married an American. A ballet dancer, Karelina's social media pages indicate she received her dance training at the S.P. Diaghilev school in Yekaterinburg in Russia, graduated from Ural Federal University then began dancing in Baltimore in 2014.

According to her LinkedIn page, she has been a manager at Ciel Spa Beverly Hills at the SLS Hotel since 2019.

Karelina's plea comes after Russia and the West carried out the largest prisoner exchange since the Cold War, where 24 people jailed in seven different countries were exchanged.

Her lawyer said it was "impossible" for Karelina to have been included in the swap because an exchange can only happen once the court verdict is handed down.

"After the verdict, of course, we will work in this direction," the lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, told reporters on Thursday.

Mushailov also said prosecutors' request for a 15-year sentence in a penal colony was too severe, given that she had cooperated with the investigation, the BBC reported.

City News Service contributed to this report.