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Court to hand down verdict in high treason case against Russian-US citizen on August 15

Karelina’s defense hopes that she will receive a sentence below the lower limit for high treason cases — 12 years

YEKATERINBURG, August 8. /TASS/. Dual Russian and US citizen Ksenia Karelina, accused of high treason, will learn her fate on August 15, when the Sverdlovsky District Court plans to make a ruling on her case, hеr attorney Mikhail Mushailov told reporters.

"[The verdict will be handed down] on August 15 at 2:30 p.m. (12:30 p.m. Moscow time - TASS)," he said.

In a conversation with journalists, Mushailov noted that in the future, Karelina hopes to be released as part of a prisoner swap. "Following the verdict, of course, we will be working in this direction. This is the client’s wish, so I will carry out all legal actions to achieve this," the lawyer said, replying to a question about the possibility of an exchange involving Karelina.

On August 8, the court heard final arguments in the case, with the state prosecution requesting 15 years in a medium-security prison for Karelina.

Mushailov specified that, in his opinion, this punishment is too severe. "There are a lot of circumstances that the court must take into account as mitigating factors. <...> For example, the fact that she voluntarily handed in her mobile device while she could have also obstructed the investigation, She voluntarily submitted all documents confirming her involvement in committing this or that criminal act," he added.

Karelina’s defense hopes that she will receive a sentence below the lower limit for high treason cases — 12 years.

Earlier, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) Public Relations Center told TASS that a 33-year-old Los Angeles resident holding Russian and US citizenship was arrested in Yekaterinburg on charges of high treason for collecting funds for the Ukrainian armed forces. The woman was subsequently remanded into custody.

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