We Don’t Leave Americans behind
So why are US Citizens Ksenia Karelina, Robert Gilman, Andre Khachatoorian, and David Barnes serving bogus sentences in Russian prison?
We have to bring them home NOW.
Sign up to learn more about how you can help them Home:
The Americans Left Behind
Ksenia Karelina
The Ballerina Case
Arrested January 2, 2024, charged with state treason for donating $51.80 to US nonprofit that supports elderly and children impacted by the war in Ukraine while she was a US citizen and living in Los Angeles, sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Robert Gilman
a Marine set up in Russia … again
Arrested January 17, 2022, sentenced to 4.5 years for “assaulting a police officer.” after falling ill on a train and accidentally kicking a police officer. Even the unharmed police officer asked for the charges to be dropped.
Andre Khachatoorian
tricked ‘In Transit’ in Moscow
Arrested December 27, 2021, during a Moscow layover with a licensed, secured firearm in his checked luggage, sentenced to 8 years for improper registration of a firearm.
David Barnes
a father fighting for his kidnapped sons
Arrested January 13, 2022, after ex-wife who kidnapped his sons from Texas to Russia made charges of abuse that had already been disproven twice by Texas officials, sentenced to 21 years hard labor.
They need Wrongful DetaineE Status Now
Ksenia, Robert, Andre, and David are all clearly innocent and Russia is only interested in holding them as political bargaining chips.
All three Americans included in the August 1st Russian prisoner exchange had Wrongful Detainee status.
They’re eligible, and granting them status is the single best way we can guarantee they won’t be left behind by the next exchange.
Sign our petition demanding the State Department designates Ksenia, Robert, Andre, and David Wrongful Detainee status NOW.
Russia Released 16 Prisoners. Hundreds of Others Were Left Behind. - New York Times, 8/2/24
Latest NEws
Americans Detained In Russia Need Help - Washington Examiner, 8/2/24
On Aug. 1, the eyes of the world were focused on a multicountry, 24-person prisoner exchange that saw three American citizens and one green-card holder released from Russian detention. While the United States rejoiced at the news of the swap, four innocent Americans remained behind. Today, they sit in Russian prisons with no information about when they might be released.
Ksenia Karelina, Robert Gilman, Andre Khachatoorian, and David Barnes could not be included in August’s prisoner exchange because the U.S. State Department had not designated them “wrongfully detained.” Without this designation, the U.S. special presidential envoy for hostage affairs cannot be engaged to “develop a strategy to secure their release.”
Citing the State Department’s Human Rights Report on Russia, Global Reach emphasizes that Americans are confronting a Russian justice system that is corrupt, rife with torture, and designed only to “serve the objectives of the Executive Leadership, not Russia’s people.” Given the dire injustices Karelina, Gilman, Khachatoorian, and Barnes face in Russian detention, Bergman insists that “there needs to be a sense of urgency in making these [wrongful detainment] designations.”
Whether as a final act of beneficence from Blinken or an urgent priority for the incoming secretary of state, assisting Americans wrongfully imprisoned must be a priority.
(Read More)
For the 16 people released from Russian captivity on Thursday in a landmark prisoner swap, the exchange brought a moment of momentous relief. But many others were left behind
Hundreds of prisoners in Russia — including Americans and prominent Russian political activists, journalists and artists — are still waiting, hoping that another diplomatic agreement or turn of events might secure their release.
Ksenia Karelina, 32, a Russian American citizen, was detained in February and accused of state treason for donating about $52 to a Ukrainian charity in the United States. In June, a court in Yekaterinburg, about 850 miles east of Moscow, began hearing her case.
(Read More)
For the 16 people released from Russian captivity on Thursday in a landmark prisoner swap, the exchange brought a moment of momentous relief. But many others were left behind
Hundreds of prisoners in Russia — including Americans and prominent Russian political activists, journalists and artists — are still waiting, hoping that another diplomatic agreement or turn of events might secure their release.
Ksenia Karelina, 32, a Russian American citizen, was detained in February and accused of state treason for donating about $52 to a Ukrainian charity in the United States. In June, a court in Yekaterinburg, about 850 miles east of Moscow, began hearing her case.
(Read More)
'They Remain In Torturous Conditions': The Prisoners Left Behind In Russia After Historic Exchange - Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty 8/2/24
“They remain in torturous conditions. They are in grave danger. We simply must not forget about them, even against the euphoric backdrop that it was possible to pull someone out,” self-exiled Russian opposition politician Dmitry Gudkov told Current Time after the prisoner swap, which saw eight Russians -- including a convicted assassin and spies -- returned to Moscow from Western custody.
In an August 1 statement on the prisoner exchange, U.S. President Joe Biden said he would “not stop working until every American wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world is reunited with their family.”
“Too many families are suffering and separated from their loved ones, and I have no higher priority as president than bringing those Americans home,” Biden said.
Relatives and loved ones of the U.S. citizens who remain imprisoned in Russia, however, expressed anger and disappointment that they were not included in the prisoner swap.
(Read More)
The August 1 multilateral exchange that brought home three American citizens from Russia was a masterful act of diplomacy. The Americans Left Behind initiative seeks to use the momentum of that success to bring home four other Americans who are detained in Russia.
Each of these individuals is a US citizen who has been detained in Russia. In each case, there is evidence that suggests that the person is actually innocent and is being victimized by the Russian legal system—including through the deprivation of due process—at least in part because they are Americans. In some cases, Americans in the Russian legal system are coerced to plead guilty because they know they will not get a fair trial, and they are threatened with long prison sentences if they do not plead.
Our first goal is to have each of these four Americans designated as a wrongful detainee under the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act.
If there is another exchange—whether this year or next—we want to ensure these four Americans have an opportunity to return home to their families and to freedom.