Russia arrests dual US-Russian citizen for allegedly trying to raise funds for Ukraine’s military: report
Russian federal officials have arrested a woman in Yekaterinburg over allegations she was trying to help direct money to Ukraine's military, a report says.
Russian authorities on Tuesday have arrested a woman with dual U.S.-Russian citizenship on suspicion of treason for raising funds for Ukraine’s military, reports say.
The woman – who has not been publicly identified – was taken into custody in Yekaterinburg, the same city where Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was detained in March last year.
"The Federal Security Service in Yekaterinburg suppressed the illegal activities of a 33-year-old resident of Los Angeles, who has dual citizenship of Russia and the United States," Russia’s FSB said in a statement to the TASS news agency, according to Reuters.
Russian officials claimed the woman was collecting funds for a Ukrainian organization that intended to pass them over to Ukraine’s army, Reuters added, citing the state media report.
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The development comes as a Russian court on Tuesday once again extended the detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich by rejecting the latest appeal from his lawyers.
The newspaper says their reporter – which it and the U.S. argues was wrongfully detained on espionage charges – will now be held behind bars until at least March 30, marking a full year in custody.
In January this year, Russian officials arrested U.S. citizen Robert Woodland Romanov on drug charges.
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The press service of the Moscow courts said at the time that the Ostankino District Court ruled to keep Romanov in custody for two months on charges of preparing to get involved in illegal drug trafficking pending an official investigation, according to The Associated Press. But it didn’t offer any details of the accusations.
Last October, Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty who holds dual U.S.-Russian citizenship, was detained by Russian authorities and charged with acting as an unregistered foreign agent.
Paul Whelan, a corporate security executive from Michigan, also has been jailed in Russia since his December 2018 arrest on espionage-related charges that both he and the U.S. government dispute. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
