CNN
—
Russian-American woman Ksenia Karelina, who was serving a 12-year prison sentence for treason in Russia, has been released and is on her way to the United States, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on X on Thursday.
Karelina was exchanged for Arthur Petrov, a dual Russian-German citizen who was being held in the US on charges of criminal offences related to export control violations, smuggling, wire fraud and money laundering, Russian state news agencies reported Thursday, quoting the FSB, the Russian security agency.
CNN has reached out to the US State Department for comment on the exchange.
“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,” Rubio said on X.
He added the president would “continue to work for the release of ALL Americans.”
Karelina, then 33, was sentenced in August. She was convicted of treason after she made a donation of just over $50 to a US-based charity supporting Ukraine.
Her trial was held in the same court in Yekaterinburg where Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was convicted of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in prison last July.
Gershkovich was released in a historic prisoner swap that included former US Marine Paul Whelan, the prominent Putin critic and a permanent US resident Vladimir Kara-Murza, and the Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva.
They were exchanged for a number of Russia citizens held in several countries, including convicted assassin Vadim Krasikov.
Karelina is a Los Angeles resident and amateur ballerina who became a US citizen in 2021. She entered Russia in January 2024 but the US did not learn of her arrest until February 8, 2024.
According to a website run by her supporters, Karelina traveled to Russia to visit her 90-year-old grandmother, sister, and parents, intending to return to her home in Los Angeles after two weeks.
Karelina’s release marks the second release of an American citizen from Russia since Trump returned to the White House. Marc Fogel, an American teacher detained in Russia for more than three years, was released in February. He was swapped for the accused Russian money launderer Alexander Vinnik.
