US-Russian dual national Ksenia Karelina released in prisoner swap between Moscow and Washington
A US-Russian dual national imprisoned in Russia on treason charges was freed on Thursday in a prisoner exchange with Washington, the woman’s lawyer and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
Ksenia Karelina, also identified in the media as Ksenia Khavana, is “on a plane back home to the United States,” Rubio said in a post on X. She was arrested in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg in February 2024 and convicted of treason later that year on charges stemming from a donation of about $US52 ($84) to a charity aiding Ukraine.
Ksenia Karelina has dual US-Russian citizenship.Credit: Facebook
The US authorities have called the case against her “absolutely ludicrous”. 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 past three years.
Karelina, a former ballet dancer, reportedly obtained US citizenship after marrying an American and moving to Los Angeles. She was arrested when she returned to Russia to visit her family last year.
Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB, accused her of “proactively” collecting money for a Ukrainian organisation that was supplying equipment to Kyiv’s forces. The First Department, a Russian rights group, said the charges stemmed from a $51.80 donation to a US charity aiding Ukraine.
Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, said on Instagram that she was flying to the US from Abu Dhabi, where the exchange took place. It was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, citing a statement from CIA director John Ratcliffe, who it said was on hand for the exchange at an airport.
Ksenia Karelina sits in a glass cage in a courtroom in Yekaterinburg, Russia.Credit: AP
“Today, President Trump brought home another wrongfully detained American from Russia,” Ratcliffe said. “I’m proud of the CIA officers who worked tirelessly to support this effort, and we appreciate the government of UAE for enabling the exchange.”
The CIA could not be immediately reached for comment in the early hours of Thursday.
The WSJ said that the US in exchange freed Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen, who was arrested in 2023 in Cyprus at the request of the US for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics to Russia.
There was no immediate confirmation from Russian or US authorities.
Petrov was extradited to the US in August 2024 to face charges of export control violations, smuggling, wire fraud and money-laundering. He was accused of involvement in a scheme to procure US-sourced microelectronics subject to US export controls on behalf of a Russia-based supplier of critical electronics components for manufacturers supplying weaponry and other equipment to the Russian military.
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 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 Ukrainians who fled there after the start of Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
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