--- description: The lawyers group Perviy Otdel said the 33-year-old woman had donated $50 to Ukraine's war effort. title: Russia Arrests Dual U.S. Citizen on Accusations of Treason image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b7b45c9e5b6940f/698a48b016d8840aecc3d377/russia-us-arrests.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [russia](/tag/russia/) ## russia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Russia Arrests Dual U.S. Citizen on Accusations of Treason  by [Armani Syed](/author/armani-syed/)  ## Armani Syed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Syed was a reporter for TIME, based in the London bureau. Feb 20, 2024 1:10 PM CUT  People walk past a mural created by artist Isaac Campbell in Georgetown that features US women's basketball star Brittney Griner and other Americans detained abroad as part of the Bring Our Families Home Campaign in Washington, DC on Dec. 8, 2022. People walk past a mural created by artist Isaac Campbell in Georgetown that features US women's basketball star Brittney Griner and other Americans detained abroad as part of the Bring Our Families Home Campaign in Washington, DC on Dec. 8, 2022.Olivier Douliery—AFP/ Getty Images  by [Armani Syed](/author/armani-syed/)  ## Armani Syed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Syed was a reporter for TIME, based in the London bureau. Feb 20, 2024 1:10 PM CUT Russia’s FSB securities services have detained a Los Angeles resident with U.S. and Russian dual nationality on charges of treason, state media TASS said Tuesday. The 33-year-old woman was identified as Ksenia Karelina by the independent Russian news outlet [MediaZona](https://zona.media/news/2024/02/20/karelina "undefined"). Perviy Otdel, a group of Russian lawyers who specialize in cases involving alleged treason, identified her as [Ksenia (Karelina) Khavana](https://t.me/deptone/8839 "undefined"). Perviy Otdel said the woman has been accused of sending just over $50 to Razom for Ukraine, a nonprofit in New York that sends assistance to Ukraine, the New York Times [reported](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/20/world/europe/russia-arrest-us-citizen-treason.html "undefined"). She was arrested in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg over allegations that she “used to purchase tactical medical items, equipment, means of destruction and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces,” the FSBsaid in a statement, [according to CBS](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-us-russian-woman-arrest-treason-funding-ukraine-yekaterinburg-fsb/ "undefined"). Video footage shared by Russian state news agency RIA Novosti showed the woman wearing a white coat and hat as she was being handcuffed. Treason can carry a life sentence in Russia, after President Vladimir Putin signed a decree in April that increased the maximum sentence from [up to 20 years](https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russias-putin-signs-decree-introducing-life-sentences-treason-2023-04-28/ "undefined"). In 2023, Russia opened [70 treason cases](https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/12/21/russias-2023-treason-cases-hit-record-high-ngo-a83510 "undefined") for treason, according to [a report](https://dept.one/story/gosizmena-2023/ "undefined") by Perviy Otdel. Defendants were found guilty in 37 of these cases. Several U.S. nationals are currently being held in Russian jails. [Evan Gershkovich](https://time.com/6269611/evan-gershkovich-imprisoned-russia-wsj-journalist/ "undefined"), a Wall Street Journal reporter who was arrested on charges of espionage in March, saw his latest appeal [denied](https://www.wsj.com/world/russia/russian-court-upholds-detention-of-wsj-reporter-evan-gershkovich-aaff0d4b "undefined") on Tuesday by a Russian court. The U.S. government has deemed Gershkovich as wrongfully detained. Another journalist, Alsu Kurmasheva, a dual U.S.-Russian national, is currently being held in pre-trial detention for allegedly violating a law on “foreign agents.” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Kurmasheva’s employer, has saidher arrest is [politically motivated](https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/radio-free-europe-fears-russia-has-taken-its-journalist-hostage-prisoner-swap-2023-11-06/ "undefined"). Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan has also been in prison in Russia since 2018, serving a 16-year sentence on espionage charges. The U.S. government considers Whelan wrongfully detained. The woman’s arrest could increase pressure on President Joe Biden to pursue a prisoner swap between the U.S. and Russia. In a controversial interview earlier this month with Tucker Carlson, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was [open to such deals](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tucker-carlson-vladimir-putin-interview-evan-gershkovich/ "undefined"). In 2022, the U.S. and Russia carried out a prisoner swap to facilitate the release of high profile [WNBA star Brittney Griner](https://time.com/6239661/brittney-griner-released-russian-custody/ "undefined") in exchange for convicted arms dealers Viktor Bout. Bout had been serving a 25 years prison sentence since 2012\. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6696617/russia-arrests-dual-citizen-treason/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6696617/russia-arrests-dual-citizen-treason/"},"headline":"Russia Arrests Dual U.S. Citizen on Accusations of Treason","datePublished":"2024-02-20T13:10:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T17:09:50.019Z","description":"The lawyers group Perviy Otdel said the 33-year-old Ksenia (Karelina) Khavana had donated $50 to Ukraine's war effort.","url":"https://time.com/6696617/russia-arrests-dual-citizen-treason/","keywords":["russia","News"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b7b45c9e5b6940f/698a48b016d8840aecc3d377/russia-us-arrests.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Armani Syed","jobTitle":"Syed was a reporter for TIME, based in the London bureau.","url":"https://time.com/author/armani-syed/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b7b45c9e5b6940f/698a48b016d8840aecc3d377/russia-us-arrests.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-RUSSIA-PRISONER-SWAP","caption":"People walk past a mural created by artist Isaac Campbell in Georgetown that features US women's basketball star Brittney Griner and other Americans detained abroad as part of the Bring Our Families Home Campaign in Washington, DC.","creditText":"Olivier Douliery—AFP/ Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/russia/","name":"russia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6696617/russia-arrests-dual-citizen-treason/","name":"Russia Arrests Dual U.S. Citizen on Accusations of Treason"}}]}] ```