(LONDON) — U.S.-Russian dual citizen Ksenia Karelina landed in the United States Thursday evening, after being released from a Russian prison in an overnight prisoner exchange.
Karelina deplaned at 11:03 p.m. at Joint Base Andrews and hugged her fiancé, Chris van Heerden.
Karelina — a 33-year-old ballet dancer — was serving a 12-year prison sentence in a penal colony, having been convicted of treason in August 2024. She was accused of organizing fundraisers for Ukraine’s military, attending pro-Ukraine rallies and posting social media messages against Russia’s war in Ukraine. The U.S. maintained she was wrongfully detained.
Karelina’s fiancé spoke to ABC News Live hours after her sentencing, saying she did nothing wrong. He said all she did was donate $50 to a Ukrainian charity.
German-Russian citizen Artur Petrov — who is accused of smuggling U.S. technology to assist the Russian military — was exchanged for Karelina, Russia’s Federal Security Service said.
Petrov was detained in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. and later extradited. A Justice Department notice of his arrest said Petrov was accused of involvement in a scheme to procure U.S.-sourced microelectronics subject to export controls on behalf of a Russia-based supplier. The components were intended for manufacturers supplying weaponry and other equipment to the Russian military, the notice said.
A 2024 statement related to Petrov’s extradition to the U.S. said he was part of a network that secretly supplied Russia’s military industrial complex with “critical U.S. technology, including the same types of microelectronics recovered from Russian weapons on Ukrainian battlefields.”
The exchange took place overnight in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed to ABC News that she had been released.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the exchange in a tweet, writing, “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.”
Russia’s Federal Security Service also confirmed Karelina’s release, saying she had been pardoned via a decree from President Vladimir Putin. The FSB said the exchange was made at Abu Dhabi airport with the mediation of the UAE.
American and Russian intelligence agencies took the lead in negotiating the prisoner swap, a U.S. official told ABC News.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe said in a statement, “Today, President Trump brought home another wrongfully detained American from Russia. 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.”
He later shared a photo of himself greeting her at an unspecified airport.
A CIA spokesperson told ABC News that “much of the swap was negotiated by the U.S. government, with CIA playing a key role engaging with Russian intelligence.”
“Through these engagements, CIA negotiated with Russia and worked closely with domestic and foreign partners, including the UAE, to carry out the exchange,” the spokesperson said. “We also collaborated closely with counterparts at agencies across the [U.S. government] to facilitate this exchange.”
The Los Angeles resident was arrested in January 2024 while visiting family in Russia. Upon learning she has American citizenship, local law enforcement searched her phone and found a donation on Venmo to a U.S. nonprofit organization that supports those impacted by the war in Ukraine, according to Global Reach, an organization dedicated to bringing home Americans who are wrongly held abroad. The donation was made in 2022, a year before the law banning such donations was passed in Russia, according to the group.
“I am overjoyed to hear that the love of my life, Ksenia Karelina is on her way home from wrongful detention in Russia,” her fiancé, van Heerden, a professional boxer, said in a statement Thursday. “She has endured a nightmare for 15 months and I cannot wait to hold her. Our dog, Boots, is also eagerly awaiting her return.”
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti, Cindy Smith, Tanya Stukalova and Shannon K. Kingston contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
