I will not visit Russia. They are taking Americans and using them as trading pawns to allow the release of Russians in the US and the EU. This is Putin’s Russia. It’s a terrible shame.

Amateur ballerina Ksenia Karelina, a native of Russia, became a US Citizen in 2021. She was a dual US-Russian citizen, and her travel to Russia was perfectly legal. She just wanted to visit her family in Russia. She lives in Los Angeles. Ksenia arrived in Russia in January 2024 from Istanbul, Turkey and immediately was detained. It was discovered that she made a $51.80 contribution to Razom, a charitable agency which provides humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.

According to CBS reporting, as she was departing Istanbul, an odd encounter occurred when a Russian airline employee asked if she had any other passports. She produced her US Passport. This could have tipped off the Russians that a dual citizen was coming.

Link: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russian-american-ksenia-karelina-boyfriend-pleads-for-her-return/

On arrival in Russia, she was detained and a contribution to “Razom for Ukraine” was discovered from cellphone records.

Razom is the Ukrainian word for “together.” This agency provides only humanitarian aid to Ukraine. From their website, they note in 2022, their assistance included:

Packed and delivered over 90,000 first aid kits and over 2,000 medical backpacks, additionally, 50,000 tourniquets–the main life-saving tool–were delivered to medics. Razom has purchased nearly 400,000 tourniquets. We have delivered over 2,000 quadcopters for safe passage and evacuation. We sourced and serviced 69 cars for medics to use as ambulances. We have supplied over 14,000 radios and over 2,000 tablets to keep Ukrainians connected.

Razom is really like the Red Cross. It is involved in saving lives. It has never provided any military equipment.

Russia has bombed homes, apartments, schools and hospitals in Ukraine. The Russians have planted landmines throughout Ukraine. It is estimated that 1/3 of all arable land in areas of hostilities is mined. So, Ukraine is in desperate need of medical supplies.

Ksenia has been sentenced to 12 years in prison. She probably would not have been imprisoned if she was just a Russian citizen. Russia want to use her as a pawn in prisoner exchanges with the US or our European partners.

When I read this story of Ksenia imprisonment, I felt like so sad for her, because she did absolutely nothing wrong. As long as we have Putin, Russia isn’t a country I want to visit. The State Department considers Russia a level 4 risk – Do not visit.

Stay tuned,

Dave