CBS News
A ballet dancer from Los Angeles is being detained in Russia on treason charges. Here’s what to know.
Russia’s main domestic intelligence agency has arrested a woman with dual U.S. and Russian citizenship on charges of treason, accusing her of collecting money for the Ukrainian military. Authorities did not name the woman, but her longtime employer in California identified her as Ksenia Khavana, whose maiden name is Ksenia Karelina.
The Federal Security Service said in a statement early Tuesday that the Los Angeles resident was arrested in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg, about 1,100 miles east of Moscow. She had returned to Russia to visit family.
/ AP
Here is what is known about Khavana and Russia’s case against her.
Who is Ksenia Khavana?
Khavana, 33, is a citizen of the U.S. and Russia.
The independent Russian news outlet Mediazona identified her as Ksenia Karelina, her maiden name, and said that she had received U.S. citizenship after marrying an American.
Isabella Koretz, owner of Ciel Spa at the SLS Beverly Hills where Khavana has worked for eight years, told The Associated Press that Khavana, a ballet dancer, came to the U.S. to study at the University of Maryland in Baltimore before relocating to Los Angeles.
She said Khavana is divorced and does not have any relatives in the U.S. Koretz said she has grown close to Khavana over the years and treats her like “she’s family.”
Facebook/Knesia Karelina
According to Koretz, Khavana tried to see her family in Russia at least once a year, usually around Christmas and New Year’s. This year, Koretz said, Khavana flew into Russia from Istanbul in early January for a two-week trip to spend time with her 90-year-old grandmother, parents and younger sister.
Koretz grew concerned when Khavana stopped returning her messages and phone calls after entering Russia. She said panic set in when Khavana ultimately did not return from her trip in mid-January as planned.
“This girl is like an angel,” Koretz said. “You have to understand that she wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
What is she accused of?
CBS News correspondent Imtiaz Tyab reported that Khavana was arrested after making a donation of only about $51 to a Ukrainian charity. The Russian authorities also said she had attended pro-Ukraine rallies in the U.S.
Russia’s Federal Security Service alleges that Khavana had been “proactively” raising funds for a Ukrainian organization since February 2022 — money that it says was “subsequently used to purchase tactical medicine, equipment, weapons and ammunition by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.”
The agency said she also took part in “public actions” in the U.S. in support of Kyiv. It did not provide further details about the allegations.
Koretz said Khavana actually was collecting funds for humanitarian aid and had made a donation to Razom for Ukraine, a U.S.-based nonprofit that says it provides medical kits and disaster relief to those affected by Russia’s invasion of the country.
“We’re talking about diapers and formula, that’s what she was collecting money for,” Koretz said. “We’re not talking about money for weapons.”
In its own statement Tuesday, the nonprofit’s CEO said she was “appalled” by media reports of the arrest but did not name Khavana or confirm whether the woman had previously donated to the charity.
The organization said in an email to The Associated Press that it does not disclose the identities of its donors to protect their privacy.
“Razom calls on the U.S. government to continue to do everything in its power to demand that President Putin release all those unjustly detained by Russia and to hold Russia’s political and military leadership accountable for their unprovoked invasion of Ukraine,” Dora Chomiak said in her statement.
Where is she now?
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said that the White House and the State Department were aware of reports of the arrest and added that “we are trying to get more information and to secure some consular access to that individual.”
The Federal Security Service says that she has been ordered detained as a “preventative measure” while it continues its investigation.
Koretz said that Khavana, meanwhile, has been communicating with her colleagues at the spa through letters and has asked them to help her sell her belongings in Los Angeles, including her car.
“She doesn’t want to leave anybody with her debts,” Koretz said.
If convicted of treason under article 275 of the Russian Criminal Code, Khavana faces up to 20 years in prison.
Khavana’s former mother-in-law Eleonora Srebroski tells CBS News that, in the wake of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny’s death in prison, she’s afraid of what might happen to her.
“I’m very, very concerned about her, about her physical wellbeing,” Srebroski told CBS News on Tuesday. “We know that Navalny was just killed a few days ago. We know it wasn’t just a death. It was the murder.”
“I am in shock,” she told CBS News, adding that there was “no justice in Russia whatsoever.”
Reuters/RU24
News on Tuesday of Khavana’s arrest came the same day a court in the Russian capital ruled to keep Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in custody pending his trial on espionage charges that he denies.
The following is a transcript of an interview with Sen. Mark Kelly, Democrat of Arizona, on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that aired on Oct. 6, 2024.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Joining us now is Arizona’s Democratic Senator, Mark Kelly. He’s in Detroit this morning on the campaign trail for the Harris campaign. Good morning to you, Senator.
SEN. MARK KELLY: Good morning, Margaret.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to talk to you about Arizona, but let’s start in Michigan, which is where you are right now. And it is going to be such a key state to a potential Harris or Trump victory. Vice President Harris is facing challenges among black men, working class people, as well as the Muslim and Arab populations skeptical of the White House support for Israel’s wars. What are you hearing on the ground there from voters?
SEN. KELLY: Well, my wife, Gabby Giffords, and I have been out here for a couple days. We’ve been campaigning across the country, Michigan, I’ve been in North Carolina, Georgia as well. I’ll be back to Arizona here soon. The vice president was out here speaking to Muslim organizations and the Arab community about what is at stake in this election and addressing the concerns that they have. What we’re hearing, issues about the economy, about gun violence, about, you know, supporting American families and the difference between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. You know, Kamala Harris, who has a vision for the future of this country, Donald Trump, who just wants to drag us backwards.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Today in Dearborn, Michigan, there’s a funeral service for an American man who was killed in Lebanon by an Israeli airstrike. It just underscores how that community you’re talking about out in Michigan feel some of what’s happening in a personal way to their community. Given how close this race is, do you think this war and the expectation it could escalate could cost Democrats both a seat in the Senate and potentially the presidency?
SEN. KELLY: Margaret, nobody wants to see escalation and it’s tragic when any innocent person, whether it’s an American or Palestinian, lose their life in a conflict. Tomorrow’s one year since October 7th, when Israel was violently attacked. Israel has a right to defend itself, not only from Hamas, but from Hezbollah and from the Iranians. But, you know, I and my wife, you know, we feel for the community here who’s been affected by this. And that’s why the vice president was out here earlier, a few days ago, meeting with that community.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But it’s a live issue.
SEN. KELLY: Yeah, sure. I mean, there is an ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Israel is, you know, fighting a war now on, I think it’s fair to say, two fronts and then being attacked by the Iranians as well. And, they- they need to defend themselves, and we need to support our Israeli ally. At the same time, when women and children lose their life, innocent people in a conflict, it is- it is tragic.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You do sit on the Senate Intelligence Committee and so I know you know how intense the efforts are by foreign actors to try to manipulate voters going into November. Just this Friday, Matthew Olsen, the lead on election threats at the Department of Justice, told CBS the Russians are, quote, highlighting immigration as a wedge issue. That is such a key issue in Arizona. Are you seeing targeted information operations really focusing in on Arizonans right now?
SEN. KELLY: Not only in Arizona, in other battleground states. It’s the Russians, the Chinese, the Iranians, and it’s significant. And we need to do a better job getting the message out to the American people that there is a huge amount of misinformation. If you’re looking at stuff on Twitter, on TikTok, on Facebook, on Instagram, and it’s political in nature, and you may- might think that that person responding to that political article or who made that meme up is an American. It could be- it could look like a U.S. service member. There is a very reasonable chance I would put it in the 20 to 30% range, that the content you are seeing, the comments you are seeing, are coming from one of those three countries: Russia, Iran, China. We had a hearing recently, with the FBI director, the DNI, and the head of the National Security Agency. And we talked about this. And we talked about getting the word out. And it’s up to us, so thank you for asking me the question, because it’s up to us, the people who serve in Congress and the White House to get the information out there, that there is a tremendous amount of misinformation in this election, and it’s not going to stop on November 5th.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Understood. And we will do our best to help parse that for viewers. But on the topic of the border, President Biden did announce just this past week new regulations to keep in place that partial asylum ban that he rolled out back in June. That’s what’s credited with helping to bring down some of the border crossing numbers in recent weeks. It was supposed to be a temporary policy, dependent on how many people were crossing at a time. Do you think this is the right long term policy, or is this just a gimmick to bring down numbers ahead of the election?
SEN. KELLY: Well, the right long term policy is to do this through legislation. And we were a day or two away from doing that, passing strong border security legislation supported by the vice president, negotiated by the vice president, and the president and his Department of Homeland Security, with Democrats and Republicans–
MARGARET BRENNAN: But this is not legislation.
SEN. KELLY: –This is bipartisan. This isn’t. But the legislation was killed by Donald Trump. We were really close to getting it passed. That’s the correct way to do this. When you can’t do that, Margaret, when a former president interrupts the legislative process the way he did, which is the most hypocritical thing I’ve ever seen in my three and a half years in the Senate. After that happened, the only other option is executive actions. And this has gone from what was chaos and a crisis at our southern border to somewhat manageable. And if you’re the border- Border Patrol, you know, this is this- you need this. I mean, otherwise it is unsafe for Border Patrol agents, for CBP officers, for migrants, for communities in southern Arizona. So it’s unfortunate that this was the- these were the steps that had to be taken.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay.
SEN. KELLY: But that’s because the former president didn’t allow us to do this through legislation.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Senator, we have to leave it right there. Face the Nation will be right back.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
CBS News
Sen. Mark Kelly says Americans need to know about “huge amount of misinformation” on election
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.