Woman jailed over £39 donation to Ukraine freed

Ksenia Karelina, a Russian-American ballerina and Los Angeles resident, has been freed in a prisoner exchange between the United States and Russia, bringing an end to her 13-month imprisonment in a Russian penal colony on treason charges.

The swap took place early Thursday morning in Abu Dhabi, where U.S. and Russian officials, including CIA Director John Ratcliffe, oversaw the exchange.

“She is on a plane back home,” confirmed U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. “Ksenia was wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year. President Trump secured her release and will continue fighting for all wrongfully detained Americans.”
 

Karelina, a former amateur ballerina and dual citizen of the U.S. and Russia, had been living in Los Angeles and working in hospitality before her arrest in Yekaterinburg, Russia in early 2024. She was convicted of treason for donating to a U.S.-based charity supporting humanitarian aid for Ukraine — a charge Russia treated as hostile activity in the context of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

She was sentenced to 12 years in a high-security penal colony, a ruling widely condemned by international human rights groups and U.S. lawmakers as politically motivated.

In return for Karelina’s release, the United States agreed to free Arthur Petrov, a dual Russian-German citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 and later extradited to the U.S. Petrov faced charges of illegally exporting sensitive microelectronics used in Russian military production — a violation of sanctions tied to the Russia-Ukraine war.

Petrov’s arrest and detention had been a sticking point in Russia-U.S. relations, particularly amid heightened scrutiny over technology transfers to sanctioned entities.

Thursday’s U.S.-Russia prisoner exchange is the second high-profile swap in two months. In February, Russia released American teacher Marc Fogel, detained on drug charges, in exchange for Alexander Vinnik, a Russian national jailed in the U.S. for money laundering linked to cryptocurrency crimes.

This latest deal, facilitated with the help of Abu Dhabi officials, marks a rare moment of cooperation between Washington and Moscow amid otherwise tense geopolitical relations.

The release sparked relief and celebration across the U.S., especially within Russian-American communities and activist networks advocating for detainees abroad.

“Ksenia Karelina was never a threat. She was punished for supporting humanitarian relief,” one rights advocate posted on X (formerly Twitter).
 

President Donald Trump, who reportedly led behind-the-scenes efforts to negotiate the release, stated:

“We will keep working to bring ALL Americans home. We don’t leave our people behind.”
 

With Karelina en route back to the United States, the focus shifts to other Americans still detained in Russia, including Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter arrested on espionage charges, and Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine serving a 16-year sentence on similar accusations.

U.S. officials have made it clear that diplomatic talks are ongoing, and more negotiated exchanges may be possible in the near future.

• 🇷🇺 Ksenia Karelina, an American ballerina, was freed in a Russia-US prisoner swap after being jailed for treason in 2024.
   
• 🇺🇸 In return, the U.S. released Arthur Petrov, accused of exporting microelectronics to Russia’s military.
   
• 🤝 The prisoner swap was negotiated in Abu Dhabi, with CIA Director John Ratcliffe present at the exchange.
   
• 📣 President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the successful diplomatic effort.
   
• 🔍 The deal marks the second Russia-U.S. prisoner exchange in two months, signaling ongoing diplomatic negotiations.