Russian-American ballet dancer freed in US-Russia prisoner swap

Russian-American amateur ballerina Ksenia Karelina has been released in a prisoner exchange between Moscow and Washington, after spending more than a year in a Russian prison on charges of funding a Ukrainian military charity, officials said on Thursday.

Dual US and Russian national Ksenia Karelina sits in a glass cage during her trial for alleged treason in Sverdlovsk Regional court in Yekaterinburg, Russia, 15 August 2024 (re-issued 10 April 2025). US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on the social media platform X that Karelina was released from prison and is on her way back to the United St

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Karelina, a Los Angeles resident, was arrested in Yekaterinburg in early 2024 and later sentenced to 12 years for allegedly sending $51 to a Ukrainian organization.

The group denied purchasing weapons, saying it focused on humanitarian aid.

Sources close to the case say the FSB uncovered the donation on her phone.

Exchange details

Under the swap, the United States freed Russian-German dual national Arthur Petrov, detained in Cyprus in 2023 on accusations of illegally exporting microelectronics to Russian defense manufacturers.

Russian President Vladimir Putin pardoned Karelina, and the exchange took place in Abu Dhabi before dawn on Thursday, according to TASS news agency.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed Karelina’s release and said she was “on a plane back home to the United States.” He called her detention “wrongful.”

CIA Director John Ratcliffe was reportedly present for the exchange, which follows another prisoner swap in February involving Russian national Alexander Vinnik and American schoolteacher Marc Fogel.

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Source: The Kyiv Independent, BBC, Reuters