A Russian American woman who was imprisoned for treason by Russia has been freed, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday.
Former ballerina Ksenia Karelina was born in Russia but had built a new life as an aesthetician at a Los Angeles spa after immigrating to the United States more than a decade ago. She “is on a plane back home to the United States,” having been “wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” Rubio said on in a post on X. He credited President Donald Trump with securing her release.
Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed her release in a statement on Instagram. “Two hours ago she was in touch with her relatives and took off from Abu Dhabi to the U.S.,” he wrote, adding that he had known about her release since Tuesday.
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Karelina in January 2024 while she was visiting her parents and younger sister in the southwestern Russian city of Yekaterinburg. It did not provide further details or evidence of her alleged crime.
At the time, the Russian legal group Perviy Otdel said it had information that Karelina had donated just more than $51.80 from her U.S. bank account Feb. 24, 2022 — the day Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine. A spa where she had previously worked confirmed this in a statement on Facebook.
Although the FSB did not confirm that figure, it said Karelina’s donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”
She was sentenced in August to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason,” having “fully admitted her guilt” at a closed trial in Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsky Region Court said in a news release at the time.
The sentence came against the backdrop of Russia’s 3-year-long war with Ukraine during which President Vladimir Putin’s government has cracked down on dissent. Any perceived criticism of the military is banned.
Her release was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, which said she was freed in exchange for the release of Arthur Petrov, a dual German Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.
The FSB later confirmed the swap in a statement.
Karelina's freedom comes almost exactly two months after American teacher Marc Fogel returned to the U.S. after spending 3½ years in prison for a minor medical cannabis infraction.
Fogel had been teaching in Russia before authorities picked him up while he was carrying 17 grams of the drug at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow.
He had been prescribed medical cannabis in the U.S. for back pain, but the drug is illegal in Russia, and he was sentenced to 14 years.
Fogel had remained in Russian custody even as U.S. authorities won freedom for other high-profile American detainees, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former Marine Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner.
Welcoming Karelina’s release, a CIA spokesperson said in a statement that the exchange showed “the importance of keeping lines of communication open with Russia, despite the deep challenges in our bilateral relationship.”
“Much of the swap was negotiated by the U.S. government, with CIA playing a key role engaging with Russian intelligence,” the spokesperson said.
