LOS ANGELES (AP) — Moscow has freed a Russian American convicted of treason in exchange for a Russian German man jailed on smuggling charges in the U.S.
The prisoner swap was completed Thursday and Ksenia Karelina was “on a plane back home to the United States,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X.
She was arrested in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg in February 2024 and convicted of treason on charges stemming from a donation of about $52 to a charity aiding Ukraine. U.S. authorities have called the case “absolutely ludicrous.”
Here is what is known about Karelina and Russia’s case against her:
Who is Karelina?
Karelina, also identified in some media as Ksenia Khavana, is a citizen of the U.S. and Russia who had lived in Los Angeles.
The independent Russian news outlet Mediazona said that she had received U.S. citizenship after marrying an American.
Isabella Koretz, owner of a Beverly Hills spa where Karelina had worked for eight years, told The Associated Press last year that Karelina, a ballet dancer, came to the U.S. to study at the University of Maryland in Baltimore before relocating to California.
She said Karelina is now divorced and does not have any relatives in the U.S.
According to Koretz, Karelina tried to see her family in Russia at least once a year, usually around Christmas and New Year’s. Koretz said Karelina flew to Russia from Istanbul in early January 2024 for a two-week trip to spend time with her 90-year-old grandmother, parents and younger sister. That’s when she was arrested.
Koretz said in a written statement on Thursday that she was joyful and relieved by the news of Karelina’s release, calling her a “resilient young woman who has shown incredible strength throughout this unimaginable ordeal.”
“I cannot wait to finally see her and give her the biggest hug. We are deeply grateful to the federal government for helping bring her home, and we continue to hope and pray for the safe return of all those still waiting to be reunited with their loved ones. Today is a day of hope, love, and profound gratitude,” Koretz wrote.
What was she convicted of?
Russia’s Federal Security Service alleged that Karelina had been “proactively” raising funds for a Ukrainian organization since February 2022 — money that it says was “subsequently used to purchase tactical medicine, equipment, weapons and ammunition by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.”
The First Department, a Russian rights group, said the charges stemmed from a $51.80 donation to a U.S. charity aiding Ukraine.
The agency said she also took part in “public actions” in the U.S. in support of Kyiv.
Koretz said last year that Karelina actually was collecting funds for humanitarian aid and had made a donation to Razom for Ukraine, a U.S.-based nonprofit that says it provides medical kits and disaster relief to those affected by Russia’s invasion of the country.
“We’re talking about diapers and formula, that’s what she was collecting money for,” Koretz said. “We’re not talking about money for weapons.”
What has the charity said?
Dora Chomiak, CEO of Razom for Ukraine, said in a statement Thursday that the charity’s staff was overjoyed at the news of Karelina’s release.
Chomiak thanked President Donald Trump and his team for working to make it happen.
“She was unconscionably jailed for over a year for exercising the same freedoms that every American citizen holds, and that all Ukrainians are fighting to keep,” the statement said. “We’re incredibly grateful that she’s free — but the work will not end until all Americans and Ukrainians held unjustly in Russian captivity are released and Russia’s ambitions to destroy and conquer Ukraine are defeated.”
Who did the Americans release?
Arthur Petrov, a Russian German, was freed by the U.S. as part of the prisoner swap in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, according to the Federal Security Service, or FSB, Russia’s main security and counterintelligence agency.
Petrov was arrested in Cyprus in August 2023 at the request of the U.S. on charges of smuggling sensitive microelectronics to Russia. He was extradited to the U.S. a year later.
