Russia prosecutors ask for 15-year sentence in treason trial of US-Russian dual citizen News
Vyacheslav Bukharov, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Russia prosecutors ask for 15-year sentence in treason trial of US-Russian dual citizen

The Sverdlovsk Regional Court announced on Thursday that the treason trial of Ksenia Khavana, a dual citizen of the US and Russia, had reached its final stage. During closing arguments, the prosecutor requested that Khavana be sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment in a general regime penal colony, followed by a two-year restriction of freedom and a fine of half a million rubles.

In February 2022, Khavana allegedly transferred over $50 to a Ukrainian fund from her account in a US bank. In February 2024, she was arrested by the Federal Security Service (FSB) in Yekaterinburg, Russia. She was accused of being involved in providing financial assistance to Ukraine, acting against the security of Russia. The FSB said that Khavana participated in public demonstrations in support of the Ukrainian government and actively organized fundraising efforts on behalf of a Ukrainian organization, with the funds subsequently used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition.

Article 275 of the Criminal Code of Russia stipulates that high treason:

shall be punishable by deprivation of liberty for a term of 12 to 20 years with or without a fine in an amount of up to 500 thousand rubles or in the amount of the wage or salary, or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to three years and with restriction of liberty for a term of up to two years.

As a result of the court investigation, the defendant pleaded guilty. The sentence is expected to be handed down on August 15.

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