Ballerina who was imprisoned by Russia after $52 donation to Ukraine charity has returned to U.S.

A Russian American woman who spent more than a year imprisoned in Russia over allegations of financially supporting Ukraine’s military returned to the United States on Thursday night after a prisoner exchange.

Ksenia Karelina, a former ballerina who had been living in Los Angeles, was arrested in Russia in February 2024 and sentenced to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason.”

The plane carrying Karelina touched down at 10:56 p.m. at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, near Washington, D.C.

Ksenia Karelina arrival usa smile happy ballerina — Ksenia Karelina arrives at Joint Base Andrews, Md., on Thursday.Alex Brandon / AP

She was smiling as she exited the plane’s steps and embraced her fiance, Chris van Heerden, who was waiting outside the jet. Van Heerden gave his coat to Karelina in the 50-degree night air and put his arm around her as they walked away from the plane.

The Russian legal group Perviy Otdel and the U.S. spa where Karelina worked said she was arrested because of a $51.80 donation to a charity that provides aid to Ukraine.

Karelina was freed in a prisoner exchange with the United States, the State Department said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said she had been wrongfully detained by Russia. Early Thursday, the special envoy for hostage response, Adam Boehler, posted a picture of Karelina on a plane headed to the United States and holding an American flag.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has never provided many details of Karelina alleged crime.

It claimed that the donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, an attack that U.S., Europe and other nations have condemned as an unprovoked act of aggression.

Karelina donated to the charity that same day.

Freed in the exchange was Russian national Arthur Petrov, the State Department said.

The Wall Street Journal, which first reported that Karelina was released Thursday, reported that Petrov is a dual German-Russian citizen who was arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

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