Ksenia Karelina, a US-Russia dual national, freed in a prisoner swap
between Moscow and Washington
[April 10, 2025]
By The Associated Press
A U.S.-Russian dual national imprisoned in Russia on treason charges was
freed Thursday in exchange for a Russian man jailed on smuggling charges
in the U.S., a prisoner swap that comes as Moscow and Washington have
made efforts to repair ties.
Ksenia Karelina, also identified in the media as Ksenia Khavana, is “on
a plane back home to the United States,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco
Rubio said in a post on social media platform X. She was arrested in the
Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg in February 2024 and convicted of
treason on charges stemming from a donation of about $52 to a charity
aiding Ukraine. American authorities have called the case “absolutely
ludicrous.”
Russia’s Federal Security Service, the country’s main security and
counterespionage agency, said that dual Russian-German citizen Arthur
Petrov was released as part of a swap. Petrov was arrested in Cyprus in
August 2023 at the request of the U.S. on charges of smuggling sensitive
microelectronics to Russia and extradited to the U.S. a year later.
Karelina was among a growing number of Americans arrested in Russia in
recent years as tensions between Moscow and Washington spiked over the
war in Ukraine. Her release is the latest in a series of high-profile
prisoner exchanges Russia and the United States carried out in the last
three years — and the second since President Donald Trump took office
less than three months ago and reversed Washington's policy of isolating
Russia in an effort to end the war in Ukraine.
Russian and U.S. diplomats are sitting down Thursday for another round
of talks in Istanbul on improving diplomatic ties.
In February, Russia released American teacher Marc Fogel, imprisoned on
drug charges, in what the White House described as a diplomatic thaw
that could advance peace negotiations. That same month, Russia released
another American just days after arresting him on drug smuggling
charges.
Karelina, a former ballet dancer, reportedly obtained U.S. citizenship
after marrying an American and moving to Los Angeles. She was arrested
when she returned to Russia to visit her family last year.
The Federal Security Service, or FSB, accused her of “proactively"
collecting money for a Ukrainian organization that was supplying gear to
Kyiv's forces. The First Department, a Russian rights group, said the
charges stemmed from a $51.80 donation to a U.S. charity aiding Ukraine.
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Ksenia Karelina, also known as Khavana sits in a glass cage in a
court room in Yekaterinburg, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024.(AP
Photo/File)
“I am overjoyed to hear that the love of my life, Ksenia Karelina is
on her way home from wrongful detention in Russia,” Karelina’s
fiancé, Chris van Heerden, said in a statement. “She has endured a
nightmare for 15 months and I cannot wait to hold her. Our dog,
Boots, is also eagerly awaiting her return.”
He thanked Trump and Trump administration envoys, as well as
prominent public figures who had championed her case.
Karelina’s lawyer Mikhail Mushailov said she was flying to the U.S.
after a prisoner swap in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
The FSB said in a statement that Russian President Vladimir Putin
had pardoned Karelina before the swap. It said that Petrov, who was
facing a 20-year prison term in the U.S., was exchanged for Karelina
at the Abu Dhabi international airport with the UAE mediation.
The agency released a video that showed Karelina being escorted to a
plane somewhere in Russia and featured of what appeared to be the
scene of exchange at the Abu Dhabu airport. The same video showed
Petrov undergoing medical checkups on a flight to Russia and saying
he was feeling normal.
Petrov was accused by the U.S. Justice Department of involvement in
a scheme to procure microelectronics subject to U.S. export controls
on behalf of a Russia-based supplier of critical electronic
components for the country's weapons industries.
The exchange was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, citing a
statement from CIA director John Ratcliffe, who it said was on hand
for the swap at an airport in Abu Dhabi.
An email seeking comment was sent to the CIA in the early hours of
Thursday.
Abu Dhabi was the scene of another high-profile prisoner swap
between Russia and the United States. In December 2022, American
basketball star Brittney Griner was traded for the notorious Russian
arms dealer Viktor Bout.
The UAE has been a mediator in prisoner swaps between Russia and
Ukraine, while the skyscraper-studded city of Dubai has become home
to many Russians and Ukrainian who fled there after the start of
Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
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