The double citizen of the US Russia imprisoned for treason in Russia was released on Thursday in a prisoner exchange with Washington, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
Ksenia Karelina has also been identified as Ksenia Khavana in the media and “is on a plane back to the US,” Rubio said in a post on X.
She was arrested in Yekaterinburg in February 2024 and was found guilty of charges stemming from a donation of about 47 euros to a charity supporting Ukraine.
US authorities have labelled her lawsuit against “absolutely Skidic.”
She reports that she was exchanged for Arthur Petrov, a German Russian citizen who was arrested in Cyprus over allegations of microchip export in 2023.
Former ballet dancer Karelina reportedly acquired US citizenship after marrying an American and moving to Los Angeles. She was arrested last year when she returned to Russia to visit her family.
Russia’s Federal Security Agency said “it was actively used to collect money for the benefit of one of the Ukrainian organizations and then to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons and ammunition for the Ukrainian military.”
According to Russian national media, Karelina pleaded guilty to the charges at a closure trial.
Her lawyer, Mikhail Mushyrov, added that Karelina has pleaded guilty to the transfer of funds but is planning to appeal to the verdict, saying she is unaware that the money will be used for “anti-Russian actions.”
Her partner, Chris Van Hairden, has been campaigning for her release since her arrest.
“I thought it was dangerous for her to go because everything was going on in the war in Ukraine, but she reassured me that she was Russian and everything was going well,” he told the Los Angeles newspaper in August 2024.
Russia passed a law that criminalized criticism of its actions in Ukraine, and passed a statement that considered its lack of trust in the Russian military since its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Earlier this week, Russian courts cut the sentences for US troops convicted of committing theft and murder threats last year, with the latest signal of relations between Washington and Moscow.
Additional sources •AP
