Russia has released the imprisoned American-Russian ballet dancer Ksenia Karelina, confirms her lawyer to the news agency AFP.
The 33-year-old was arrested early 2024 during a visit to relatives in Russian Yekaterinburg. She was sentenced in August last year to twelve years in a Russian penal colony for "treason", for having donated the equivalent of 518 kronor to a US-based charity organization for Ukraine in 2022.
"American Ksenia Karelina is on a plane home to the USA. She was detained by Russia on false grounds for over a year and President Trump secured her release", writes US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on X.
In exchange, the USA has released Russian-German Arthur Petrov, according to The Wall Street Journal. He was arrested on Cyprus in 2023, accused of having exported sensitive American microelectronics to Russia, and was subsequently extradited to the USA where he awaited trial. The electronics are said to have been sold to companies that supply weapons and other material to the Russian military.
CIA chief John Ratcliffe, who was present at the airport in Abu Dhabi during Thursday's prisoner exchange, led the talks on the exchange together with a high-ranking official within the Russian intelligence service, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The exchange takes place on the same day as Russia and the USA meet in Turkish Istanbul to improve the countries' diplomatic relations. Washington and Moscow are reportedly working in parallel to reach a ceasefire in the Ukraine war.
