American ballerina detained in Russia for donating $51 to Ukrainian charity is only allowed to shower once a week and is too afraid to go outside for fresh air because guards 'lock doors and leave inmates on freezing roof' of arctic jail

The American ballerina being detained in Russia for donating $51 to a Ukrainian charity revealed she is being deprived of basic hygiene and is too afraid to go outside for fresh air. 

In a recent letter to her boyfriend, Ksenia Karelina said she is only allowed to shower once a week and has decided to skip going outside because the guards are known to lock inmates out and leave them on the freezing roof of the arctic jail. 

Her boyfriend, Chis Van Heerdan, told Fox & Friends Karelina has no access to hot water, is forced to sleep with the lights on and has a strict 6am wake-up call and 10pm bedtime. 

'It’s a day-by day thing. One day she wakes up very hopeful and very positive, and then other days there is no hope,' her boyfriend said. 

He added Karelina also has days where she fears that she might be stuck in the Russian prison for the rest of her life. 

Ksenia Kalerina, the American ballerina being detained in Russia for donating $51 to a Ukrainian charity revealed she is being deprived of basic hygiene and is too afraid to go outside for fresh air

In a recent letter to her boyfriend ,Karelina said she is only allowed to shower once a week and has decided not to go outside on the roof because the guards are known to lock inmates out and leave them in the freezing weather

Karelina, who holds dual Russian-American citizenship, was charged with treason and faces up to 20 years in jail for making the small donation to the humanitarian charity Razom on the day Russia invaded Ukraine

Karelina, who holds dual Russian-American citizenship, was charged with treason and faces up to 20 years in jail for making a small donation to the humanitarian charity Razom on the day Russia invaded Ukraine.

As the couple tries to hold onto hope, her boyfriend said Karelina mentioned in her letter that through the small window in her cell she feels connected to him. 

'I've got a little window in my cell and I can see the sun, and I know I look at the same sun you look at when the sun goes down,' she wrote in the letter. 

After reading that note, Van Heerdan said he has trouble looking at the sun now because he 'just thinks of her.' 

His girlfriend is now being held in a cell at Yekaterinburg detention center, about 1,000 miles east of Moscow, in conditions that are a grim contrast to her job as an esthetician at a spa in Beverly Hills. 

The payment was discovered after her phone was seized when she flew into Yekaterinburg's Koltsovo Airport on January 2, planning to visit her 90-year-old grandparents in time for Russia's Christmas day.

She was arrested after being invited to pick up her phone on January 27, the day that Ven Heerden last spoke to her.

'Fifty-one dollars, come on,' he told NBC, 'a simple donation because she's kind.

'I was actually thinking of proposing to this woman, so every day is tough.

'She's got an affectionate smile. Always happy, so, so, so giving. She lives a full life.'

Karelina is now being held in a cell at Yekaterinburg detention center (pictured), about 1,000 miles east of Moscow , in conditions that are a grim contrast to her job as an esthetician at a spa in Beverly Hills

The payment was discovered after her phone was seized when she flew into Yekaterinburg's Koltsovo Airport on January 2, planning to visit her 90-year-old grandparents in time for Russia's Christmas day

A detention hearing this week denied her application to be held on house arrest and Russia has refused to grant consular access to U.S. officials as Karelina becomes the latest pawn in a diplomatic war between Washington and Moscow

A detention hearing this week denied her application to be held on house arrest and Russia has refused to grant consular access to U.S. officials as Karelina becomes the latest pawn in a diplomatic war between Washington and Moscow.

'I didn't get my hopes up,' said Van Heerden insisting she would need a 'miracle' to escape from Russian custody.

'I broke down because I know Ksenia, she is a sweetheart, she's so soft and I cannot imagine for the life of me how scared she must be,' he added.

'I want to let people know that Ksenia is a normal person, that's my job. She's a normal American citizen that made a mistake.

'I'm in a fight right now totally out of my control, I'm in a fight that I'm not familiar with. I'm trying my very best to do as much as I can.'

He said he was told by officials from the U.S. State Department that they still can't gain access to his girlfriend. 

Karelina was sentenced to 14 days detention for 'petty hooliganism' before she was slapped with treason charges.

Russia's FSB claims she 'proactively collected funds in the interests of one of the Ukrainian organizations, which were subsequently used to purchase tactical medicine, equipment, weapons and ammunition by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.'

In a statement, Razom's CEO Dora Chomiak said the organization is 'appalled at Karelina's arrest.

'Vladimir Putin has repeatedly shown that he holds no sovereign border, foreign nationality or international treaty above his own narrow interest,' Chomiak said.

'His regime attacks civil society activists who stand up for freedom and democracy.'

Her father, Pavel Karelina, 56, said he couldn't comment on the Russian government's ongoing case against his daughter, but thanked the public for their support

Van Heerdan said he was told by officials from the U.S. State Department that they still can't gain access to his girlfriend and that she is 'prepared for what might be the fight of her life' 

Last week, Karelina's distraught father said he was 'at a loss' as to how to help her.

In an interview with DailyMail.com, Pavel Karelina, 56, said he couldn't comment on the Russian government's ongoing case against his daughter, but thanked the public for their support.

'We really can't say anything now. We ourselves are at a loss to understand what's going on,' said Pavel, the general director of a Russian transport equipment company.

'Please understand. Thank you for your good wishes.'

Karelina's one-time husband, Evgeny Khavana, revealedlast month that his own family are living in fear and cannot speak freely because they believe they are being 'listened to' by Russian authorities.

He said, 'We cannot speak, my family cannot say anything,' he added.

Her mother-in-law, Eleanora Sreboski, told DailyMail.com that Ksenia would spend the rest of her life in a Russian prison if America didn't intervene.

Van Heerden said his girlfriend was veering between motivation one day and hopelessness the next, but was 'prepared for what might be the fight of her life.'