This is Ksenia Karelina — dual U.S.-Russian citizen — at home in Los Angeles last year:

And this is Ksenia now, after spending eight months in a Russian prison.

Arrested sometime between her arrival in Russia to visit family in January of this year and the announcement on February 8th that she had been detained, she was charged with “high treason” and has been in custody ever since. Her trial, scheduled for today, August 8th, is being held in Yekaterinburg, in the same court — and before the same judge — that recently held journalist Evan Gershkovich and saw him sentenced to 16 years for espionage.

The prosecutor in Karelina’s case is seeking a sentence of 15 years, based on her “confession” of “guilt.” What, in fact, she was accused of — and has admitted doing because it is absolutely true — is having contributed $51.80 in the United States to a charity (“Razom”) providing non-military aid to war-torn Ukraine.

And that, in Russia, is considered “high treason” . . . when you are a Russian citizen, which Ms. Karelina still is. And that is an offense now punishable by a sentence of up to life in prison.

There has been no explanation of how — or even why — the Russian authorities knew of her contribution to the charity, though in this electronic age, it is not difficult to imagine. And there would be no purpose in trying to deny it; in fact, doing so would only work against her. So she undoubtedly admitted to having made the contribution, which was then automatically interpreted as an admission of “guilt.”

So today we await word on the outcome of the trial in Yekaterinburg, which may be quick, or may take more than one day. And once she is found guilty — a foregone conclusion in these cases — and sentenced, she will be eligible, under Russian procedures, to be considered in a future trade negotiation. Had she been tried ten days ago, she might have been home by now.

And that, dear reader, is justice in Vladimir Putin’s Russia, where the laws are flexible and people are disposable.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
8/8/24