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.

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.