US-Russian ballet dancer Ksenia Karelina freed in prisoner swap with Russia
US-Russian citizen Ksenia Karelina standing in a cage at the Sverdlovsk regional Court in Yekaterinburg, Russia on June 20, 2024. (AFP Photo)
Ksenia Karelina, a U.S.-Russian ballet dancer and spa worker, returned to American soil Thursday after being released from Russian custody in a prisoner exchange conducted in Abu Dhabi.
“American Ksenia Karelina is on a plane back home to the United States. She was wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on social media platform X.
Karelina, born in 1991 and residing in Los Angeles, had been serving a 12-year prison sentence on treason charges stemming from what her supporters describe as a modest donation to a pro-Ukraine charity. Russian authorities accused her of collecting funds for Ukraine’s military that were used to purchase “equipment, weapons and ammunition” — allegations she consistently denied.
US-Russian ballet dancer Ksenia Karelina’s detention
The ballet dancer was arrested in January 2024 while visiting family in Yekaterinburg. Her case drew international attention as an example of Russia’s increasingly aggressive stance toward those with connections to both Russia and Western nations.
Mikhail Mushailov, Karelina’s lawyer, confirmed to AFP that “the exchange took place in Abu Dhabi and, as of a couple of hours ago, she was already flying out of Abu Dhabi.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that CIA Director John Ratcliffe personally greeted Karelina at the Abu Dhabi airport as she was transferred to U.S. custody. Ratcliffe had conducted negotiations for the swap with a senior Russian intelligence official, according to an unidentified CIA source.
In exchange for Karelina’s freedom, the United States released Arthur Petrov, a Russian-German citizen who faced up to 20 years in a U.S. prison for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics to Russia in violation of export controls related to sanctions over the Ukraine conflict.
This exchange marks the second prisoner swap between Russia and the United States since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, signaling a possible thaw in bilateral relations that had deteriorated following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Despite this positive development, U.S. officials noted that several Americans remain detained in Russia. A CIA spokeswoman told the Wall Street Journal, “While we are disappointed that other Americans remain wrongfully detained in Russia, we see this exchange as a positive step and will continue to work for their release.”
