A US-Russian dual national imprisoned in Russia on treason charges was freed Thursday in a prisoner exchange with Washington, the woman's lawyer and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, per the AP. 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 $52 to a charity aiding Ukraine. 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. 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 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 US charity aiding Ukraine.
Karelina's lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, said on Instagram that she was flying to the US from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 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 in Abu Dhabi. 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 the Russian or US authorities. (More prisoner swap stories.)
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