Ksenia Karelina, U.S. Ballet Dancer, Freed from Russia in Prisoner Exchange
Washington, D.C. – April 10, 2025, 7:17 AM PDT
Ksenia Karelina, a U.S.-Russian dual citizen and amateur ballet dancer, was released from a Russian prison overnight in a high-stakes prisoner exchange, marking another diplomatic win for the Trump administration. The 33-year-old Los Angeles resident, who had been serving a 12-year sentence for treason in a Russian penal colony, landed in Abu Dhabi early Thursday as part of a swap negotiated by U.S. and Russian intelligence agencies, with the United Arab Emirates facilitating the exchange. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed her release, announcing on X, “American Ksenia Karelina is on a plane back home to the United States. She was wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year, and President Trump secured her release.”
Karelina’s ordeal began in January 2024 when she traveled to Yekaterinburg, Russia, to visit her family, including her 90-year-old grandmother. Arrested in February on a minor charge of public swearing, her detention escalated after authorities discovered a $51.80 donation she made on February 24, 2022—the day Russia invaded Ukraine—to Razom, a New York-based charity aiding Ukraine. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) labeled the donation as funding for Ukraine’s military, charging her with treason. After pleading guilty in a closed trial, she was sentenced on August 15, 2024, to 12 years, a verdict her boyfriend, Chris Van Heerden, called unjust, insisting “she did nothing wrong” beyond a small charitable act.
In exchange, the U.S. released Arthur Petrov, a dual Russian-German citizen arrested in Cyprus in August 2023 and extradited to the U.S. in 2024. Petrov faced charges of smuggling U.S.-sourced microelectronics to Russia’s military-industrial complex, allegedly violating export controls. The swap, executed at Abu Dhabi’s Al Bateen airport, reflects a pattern of quiet negotiations between the CIA and Russian counterparts, with CIA Director John Ratcliffe praising the effort: “Today, President Trump brought home another wrongfully detained American from Russia.”
Karelina’s release—her name sometimes spelled “Karellina” in early reports—follows that of Marc Fogel in February, signaling improved U.S.-Russia channels under Trump. Born in Yekaterinburg, she emigrated to the U.S. in 2012, gaining citizenship in 2021, and worked at a Beverly Hills spa while pursuing ballet. Her lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed her flight to the U.S., while posts on X hailed her freedom, with users calling it “a triumph of justice.” As she returns, Karelina’s story underscores the human cost of geopolitical tensions—and the power of backdoor diplomacy to resolve it.