Saturday, 19 April 2025

Trump Admin Negotiates Release Of American Ballerina In Prisoner Exchange With Russia

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An American ballerina who was wrongly detained in Russia has been released, according to the State Department.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the United States negotiated a prisoner swap that would secure the release of Ksenia Karelina.

In exchange for Karelina, the United States released Russian citizen Arthur Petrov, who was arrested in 2023 for illegally exporting microelectronics.

Rubio on a post on X, wrote, “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. @POTUS will continue to work for the release of ALL Americans.

Karelina was sentenced to 12 years in prison for treason after donating a little over $50 to a Ukrainian charity.

Check out what Fox News reported:

Russian-American ballerina Ksenia Karelina, who has been wrongfully detained in Russia for more than a year, is on her way back to the United States, Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed early Thursday.

Moscow released Karelina in exchange for German-Russian citizen Arthur Petrov, who was arrested in 2023 in Cyprus at the request of the U.S. on charges of exporting sensitive microelectronics, the Wall Street Journal 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 Trump secured her release. @POTUS will continue to work for the release of ALL Americans,” Rubio wrote on X.

Karelina was sentenced to 12 years in a Russian penal colony after pleading guilty to treason for donating $51.80 to a Ukrainian charity in early 2024.

She was initially detained for “petty hooliganism” while visiting family in Russia in February 2024, but the charge was later upgraded to treason after accusations that she was acting as an American spy.

Per NPR:

The U.S. and Russia announced they have carried out another prisoner swap — the second such exchange since Donald Trump returned to the White House vowing to improve relations with the Kremlin and end the war in Ukraine.

According to the deal negotiated by the countries’ intelligence agencies, Russia released Ksenia Karelina, a dual Russian and American citizen who had been serving out a 12-year sentence in a maximum security prison colony.

A native of Russia’s Ural mountains who later moved to Los Angeles, the 33-year-old ballet dancer was detained while visiting her parents in Russia in February of last year.

The reason: Karelina had donated just over $50 to a U.S.-based Ukrainian aid charity, on February 24, 2022, the day Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Prosecutors accused her of financing the Ukrainian army, a charge for which she was later convicted of treason.

Under the exchange, the U.S. had freed Arthur Petrov, a dual Russian-German citizen accused of illegally exporting military grade electronics in violation of U.S. sanctions on Russia over its actions in Ukraine.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport.

View the original article here.


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