L.A. ballerina imprisoned by Russia for treason has been freed, Rubio says
A Russian-American woman who was imprisoned for treason by Russia has been freed, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday.
Former ballerina Ksenia Karelina was born in Russia but had built a new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the United States over a decade ago. She 'is on a plane back home to the United States,' having been 'wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,' Rubio said on in a post on X.
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Karelina in January 2024 while she was visiting her parents and young sister in the city Yekaterinburg. She was sentenced to 12 years in prison in August.
At the time, Russian legal group Perviy Otdel said it had information that Karelina had donated just over $51.80 from her U.S. bank account on Feb. 24, 2022 — the day that Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine.
U.S. authorities have not confirmed the details of that alleged donation and NBC News was not able to independently verify the sum or the nature of the alleged donation.
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