(NewsNation) — U.S. and Russian citizen Ksenia Karelina was sentenced to 12 years in a Russian penal colony Thursday morning for donating money to Ukraine.
It comes a week after state media reported the ballerina pleaded guilty to treason for giving $51 to Razom, a charity providing aid to Ukraine, in February 2022 as the war in that country began.
Karelina is the first American sentenced to years of prison time since the swap earlier this month freed three American citizens and a long-term resident, most notably retired Marine Paul Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. The White House viewed each of their convictions as wrongful.
Karelina’s family has told NewsNation over the years how hard it’s been to show her support and to process the uncertainty of the situation.
“America loves you. America fights for you. American people know that you are not guilty. American people support you,” said Eleonora Srebroski, Karelina’s former mother-in-law. Srebroski added that she can’t write those words in her letters to Karelina for fear of censorship.
It’s unclear if the U.S. is close to a deal to get Karelina out of prison.