Yekaterinburg, Russia - A judge in Russia on Thursday denied the appeal of a Los Angeles woman detained for "treason," apparently for making a small donation to a charity that aids Ukraine.

Russian media reported that Ksenia Karelina, a 32-year-old dual US-Russian citizen, appeared by video link in Sverdlovsk Region Court in the city of Yekaterinburg, where Russian security officers arrested her on January 27. She was shown behind bars wearing a white long-sleeve shirt.

Reports said that the judge rejected a request from a lawyer for Karelina that she be released from detention to stay under house arrest with her parents in Yekaterinburg before a trial.

"What's happening to Ksenia is a terrible punishment," said Isabella Koretz, a friend who owns the Ciel Spa in Beverly Hills, where Karelina is employed as an aesthetician. "Just to imagine that an American citizen is in Russian jail right now for making a donation to the victims of war and for having the audacity to visit her parents. Are these truly her crimes?"

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"The American government and all of us here need to continue to fight for her release."

According to Chris Van Heerden, Karelina's boyfriend who lived with her in LA, Russian agents immediately questioned Karelina upon her arrival on January 2 for a visit and took her phone.

Russia's Federal Security Service, or FSB, announced the arrest on February 20, when it said a Los Angeles woman was "proactively collecting funds in the interests of one of the Ukrainian organizations."

Independent media identified her as Ksenia Khavana, her married name before a divorce, and said she was arrested for donating a little more than $50 to Razom for Ukraine – Together for Ukraine – a New York-based group that gives humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

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Karelina, who is an amateur ballerina, briefly appeared in court that day while handcuffed and wearing a white jacket and a cap drawn over her eyes. A man in military fatigue escorted her. The court date was postponed because Karelina did not have a lawyer.

Russian state media agency TASS said she will be held in pretrial detention until at least April.

The US State Department said it has been denied consular access to Karelina, who immigrated to the US more than a decade ago and became a US citizen in 2021.

Russian law typically treats dual citizens as Russian citizens only.

Russia has made several high-profile arrests of Americans in recent years on charges that the US government has said are dubious.

In 2022, WNBA star Brittney Griner was kept behind bars for 10 months before the Kremlin traded her for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer imprisoned in the US.

Another American, Paul Whelan, has been held by Russia for five years. The US denied Russian charges that the former US Marine was a spy.

In March, Russia also arrested Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on espionage charges that the US said were false. Last week, a Moscow court rejected an appeal by Gershkovich.