Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Thursday that ballerina Ksenia Karelina was released from a Russian prison and is on her way back to the U.S.
Karelina, a U.S.-Russian dual national, was detained in 2024 on treason charges. She was released as part of a prisoner exchange, according to the State Department, The Hill reported.
“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 Trumpsecured her release,” Rubio said in a post on X.
“@POTUS will continue to work for the release of ALL Americans,” he added.
Karelina, a former ballet dancer, was arrested and charged with treason in February 2024 in Yekaterinburg. She was subsequently found guilty by a Russian court in August 2024 for donating more than $50 to a U.S.-based Ukrainian charity. Her sentence was 12 years.
The State Department previously said she was wrongfully detained.
She was in Russia at the time visiting family.
Karelina received her U.S. citizenship in 202.
The prisoner swap was in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, an agency spokesperson said, adding the CIA played a part in the exchange.
Ksenia, a beautiful ballerina held for over a year in Russia is on our
— Adam Boehler (@aboehler) April 10, 2025plane en route home! Thank you @realDonaldTrump! And the A team @SteveWitkoff @SecRubio @CIADirector @MikeWaltz47
https://t.co/v5zRLPksBn pic.twitter.com/8SaNIGYIoz
“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,” CIA Director John Ratcliffe said in a statement.
Karelina was released in exchange for Arthur Petrov. Petrov is a dual Russian-German national, who was detained in 2023, according to a CIA official.
Petrov was accused of conspiring to smuggle microelectronics from U.S. distributors to Moscow.
