How $50 for Ukraine led to desperate battle to free LA ballerina held in Russia
Amateur ballerina #Ksenia #Karelina, an American and Russian dual citizen who celebrated the new year with a trip to Istanbul with her partner Chris van Heerden, a South African professional boxer, before heading to Russia to visit family, was 🔸arrested and detained by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) on 28 January🔸 in her hometown of Yekaterinburg, about 1,100 miles east of Moscow.
Karelina may be the latest victim in a chess match over detainees between the US and Russia, which dates back more than 15 years when, in 2008, the US Drug Enforcement Administration arrested #Viktor #Bout, a former Soviet military officer and translator, on conspiracy charges. Bout was eventually traded in 2022 for the WNBA champion #Brittney #Griner, who Russian officials had arrested for possessing vaporizer cartridges containing less than a gram of hash oil.
In March last year, Russian officials arrested the Wall Street Journal reporter #Evan #Gershkovich in the same place as Karelina, Yekaterinburg. Gershkovich and the ex-US marine #Paul #Whelan, arrested in 2018, are being held on bogus espionage charges, according to the US government.
In January, Moscow also arrested the English teacher #Robert #Woodland #Romanov, a dual US-Russian citizen, on drug charges.
And now Karelina.
Van Heerden is desperate to raise awareness and money for his partner’s legal defense and return.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/09/los-angeles-ballerina-russia-treason-charges?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other