Russia Seeks To Jail US Russian Woman Over $50 Donation To Ukraine

Russian prosecutors have requested a 15-year prison sentence for a dual US-Russian national charged with "treason" for making a donation to a pro-Ukraine organisation.

Ksenia Karelina, who lives in the United States, was arrested in February while visiting family in Russia, accused of providing financial assistance to the Ukrainian army.

"The prosecution requested a sentence of 15 years imprisonment in a general regime penal colony," Russian state-run news agencies quoted Karelina's lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, as saying Thursday.

She donated around $50 to a US-based pro-Ukraine charity after Russia launched its full-scale military offensive in 2022, US media reported, citing her family and employer.

Russia's FSB security service accused her of collecting money that was "used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces."

Russian state media reported she pleaded guilty in a court hearing in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg on Wednesday.

The verdict will be delivered next Thursday, the court's press service told AFP.

Moscow has launched dozens of criminal cases against Russian citizens it accuses of supporting or collaborating with Kyiv.

Karelina, in her early 30s, is just one of a string of US citizens and dual nationals that have also been targeted.

Last week Russia released three of them -- journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva, as well as ex-marine Paul Whelan -- in the largest East-West prisoner swap since the Cold War.

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