Russian prosecutors on Thursday sought a 15-year prison sentence for Russian-American woman Ksenia Khavana, who pleaded guilty to treason.
Khavana was detained in February while on a trip to visit relatives in Yekaterinburg. She was accused of treason for donating $51 to a United States charity that helps bring aid to Ukraine amid its ongoing war with Russia.
The charity, Razom, says that it supplies items like first aid kits and clean water to Ukraine.
Russia’s main domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service, says Khavana “proactively collected money in the interests of one of the Ukrainian organizations.” The agency went on to accuse the organization of providing ammunition and weapons to Ukrainian troops in Russia’s war of aggression.
Khavana’s lawyer Mikhail Mushailov said that she pleaded guilty because "it was stupid in this situation to deny the obvious." This was done in hopes that she would get a lesser sentence, with Mushailov also claiming that Khavana had cooperated with law enforcement throughout the investigation. He expressed that a 15-year sentence was too harsh.
Khavana’s trial comes a week after the biggest prisoner swap between Russia and the West since the Cold War. Mushailov explained that a prisoner exchange for Khavana wouldn’t be possible until after her sentencing and that they will “work in this direction” once that happens.
Khavana is scheduled to be sentenced on August 15.
Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press and Reuters.
