WASHINGTON — An American woman held in Russia for over a year is speaking about her ordeal after her release on Dec. 8, the same day as WNBA star Brittney Griner.
Sarah Krivanek, 46, told ABC News she moved to Russia in 2017 to teach English. Fluent in Russian, she enjoyed a successful career teaching at elite schools in Moscow.
A trial in February without a jury resulted in a year-long sentence to a Russian penal colony, a verdict even her attorney told her was extreme for the circumstances, she says. Krivanek said she learned it coincided with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine."I just fell into the system as a sacrifice, just at the wrong time. And because they were preparing to go to war with Ukraine, I became somebody on their radar," she said.
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