{"id":2128,"date":"2025-04-10T09:43:07","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T09:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/?p=2128"},"modified":"2025-04-15T23:05:36","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T23:05:36","slug":"us-russia-prisoner-exchange-of-ksenia-karelina-and-weapons-trafficker-shown-in-abu-dhabi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/10\/us-russia-prisoner-exchange-of-ksenia-karelina-and-weapons-trafficker-shown-in-abu-dhabi\/","title":{"rendered":"US-Russia prisoner exchange of Ksenia Karelina and weapons trafficker shown in Abu Dhabi"},"content":{"rendered":"
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class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-headline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder\">\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"metro-related-video-carousel__related-video-placeholder-headline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\twindow.addEventListener(‘metroVideo:relatedVideosCarouselLoaded’, function(data) {<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tif (typeof(data.detail) === ‘undefined’ || typeof(data.detail.carousel) === ‘undefined’ || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === ‘undefined’) {<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\treturn;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t}<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar player = data.detail.carousel.el_;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar container = player.closest(‘.metro-video-player’);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar placeholder = container.querySelector(‘.metro-video-player__up-next-placeholder’);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tcontainer.removeChild(placeholder);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tcontainer.classList.add(‘metro-video-player–related-videos-loaded’);<br \/>\n\t\t\t});<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>A former ballerina who was imprisoned in <a data-track=\"inline-tag-auto-link_article\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/russia\/\">Russia<\/a> for donating \u00a339 to a <a data-track=\"inline-tag-auto-link_article\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/charity\/\">charity<\/a> collecting money for <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/ukraine\/\" data-track=\"inline-tag-auto-link_article\">Ukraine<\/a> has finally been freed.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2024\/08\/15\/russian-ballerina-jailed-12-years-donating-39-charity-21427668\/\">Ksenia Karelina<\/a>, a US-Russian dual national, was supposed to spend the next 12 years of her life behind bars after being convicted of treason last year and branded an \u2018American spy\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>The 34-year-old was today released in a prisoner exchange with the <a data-track=\"inline-tag-auto-link_article\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/us-news\/\">US<\/a> government, US secretary of state Marco Rubio said.<\/p>\n<p>Rubio confirmed in a statement on X earlier: \u2018American Ksenia Karelina is on a plane back home to the United States. <\/p>\n<p>\u2018She was wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year and president Trump secured her release.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018He will continue to work for the release of ALL Americans.\u2019<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"646\" height=\"485\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22886298 lazyload\" alt=\"This photo released by the state-run WAM news agency shows Yousef al-Otaiba, the UAE ambassador to the U.S., left, standing next to U.S.-Russian dual national Ksenia Karelina after her release at an airport in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (WAM via AP)\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/softnary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SEI_247020547-7081.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>Yousef al-Otaiba, the UAE ambassador to the US, with US-Russian dual national Ksenia Karelina after her release at an airport in Abu Dhab (Picture: AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Her lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, said: \u2018She was exchanged. She contacted her relatives two hours ago.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>He confirmed that she was flying to the US from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, where the exchange took place.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who is Ksenia Karelina?<\/h2>\n<p>Karelina was born in Russia and emigrated to the US back in 2012 with her childhood friend Kristina via a work-study programme, receiving American citizenship in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>At first, she pursued dance as a ballerina, but later moved from Baltimore to Los Angeles, where she took on a job as a receptionist at the luxury Ciel Spa at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills.<\/p>\n<p>In 2022, she graduated from aesthetician school and continued working in the spa until she was jailed in Russia.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"646\" height=\"652\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22885174 lazyload\" alt=\"US-Russian ballerina, Ksenia Karelina, 33, branded an 'American spy???, convicted of paying $51.80 [??40.76] and sentenced to 12 years in a hellhole Putin prison, as freed today in an exchange in Abu Dhabi.??? Here Ksenia is pictured with her father Pavel\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/softnary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SEI_247012831-7daf.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>Karelina pictured with her father Pavel (Picture: social media\/ East2west news)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Family members described her as someone who \u2018loves to travel to US national parks, hikes, does yoga every Sunday and takes boxing classes\u2019. <\/p>\n<p>A statement on the \u2018Free Ksenia\u2019 website said: \u2018She is a kind and generous woman who is very close to her family. Since her arrest, her boyfriend Chris has been the lead advocate for Ksenia, coordinating everything we do to support Ksenia and bring her home.\u2019<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why did the Kremlin target the former ballerina?<\/h2>\n<p>She had travelled from Los Angeles to visit her 90-year-old grandmother, parents and younger sister in their home in southwestern Russia when she was detained in February.<\/p>\n<p>Three days before she was scheduled to return home, she was handcuffed in the city of Yekaterinburg, in the Ural Mountains, and convicted of state treason later in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>This was also the same location where Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich had been arrested the previous year.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"646\" height=\"680\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22885163 lazyload\" alt=\"US-Russian ballerina, Ksenia Karelina, 3???3, branded an 'American spy???, convicted of paying $51.80 [??40.76] and sentenced to 12 years in a hellhole Putin prison, as freed today in an exchange in Abu Dhabi.\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/softnary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SEI_247007708-a428-e1744280463139.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>She had travelled to Russia in 2024 to visit her elderly grandmother and her parents (Picture: social media\/ East2west news)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Russia\u2019s FSB searched her mobile and found that she had made a donation to Razom, a charity that provides aid to\u00a0Ukraine, on the first day of the\u00a0full-scale invasion\u00a0in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities accused her of \u2018proactively collecting money in the interests of one of the Ukrainian organisations, which was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>The US authorities have called the case against her \u2018absolutely ludicrous\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>Dora Chomiak, the CEO of Razom for Ukraine, said today: \u2018We are overjoyed to learn that after over a year of being held unjustly in Russian<br \/>captivity, Ksenia Karelina has been released and is returning home to the United States. <\/p>\n<p>\u2018We extend our gratitude to President Donald Trump and his team for<br \/>working to secure Karelina\u2019s release. President Trump has pledged that he will leave no American behind, and our team congratulates him for delivering on that promise today.\u2019<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who else was part of the prisoner exchange?<\/h2>\n<p>The prisoner exchange was first reported by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/world\/russia\/u-s-and-russia-swap-prisoners-in-deal-arranged-by-intelligence-agencies-e6448f06?mod=hp_lead_pos1\">Wall Street Journal<\/a>, citing a statement from CIA director John Ratcliffe, who it said was on hand for the exchange at an airport in Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Today, President Trump brought home another wrongfully detained American from Russia,\u2019 Ratcliffe said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"646\" height=\"646\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22886857 lazyload\" alt=\"Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen who was released by the U.S. during a prisioner swap with Russia in exhange of Ksenia Karelina, is seen in this picture obtained from social media by Reuters on April 10, 2025. Arthur Petrov via LinkedIn\/via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES.\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/softnary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SEI_247020987-8ab9.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen who was released by the US during a prisoner swap with Russia (Picture: REUTERS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u2018I\u2019m proud of the CIA officers who worked tirelessly to support this effort, and we appreciate the government of UAE for enabling the exchange.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>It is understood that the US, in exchange, freed dual German-Russian citizen, Arthur Petrov.<\/p>\n<p>He was arrested in 2023 in Cyprus at the request of the US for allegedly exporting more than $225,000 worth of electronic components to manufacturers supplying weaponry and equipment to the Russian military.<\/p>\n<p>Petrov worked for Russia-based supplier LLC Electrocom VPK, according to court documents cited by the US Department of Justice.<\/p>\n<p>It was alleged that alongside two accomplices who also worked for Electrocom, Petrov fraudulently procured microelectronics from US distributors using a network of shell companies, based in Cyprus and other third countries, to disguise that the ultimate destination for the equipment was Russia.<\/p>\n<p>There was no immediate confirmation from the Russian or US authorities.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at <a href=\"mailto:webnews@metro.co.uk\">webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong> <strong>Or you can submit your videos and pictures <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/submit-stuff\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/submit-stuff\/\">here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>For more stories like this, check our<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/news\/\"><strong>\u00a0news page<\/strong><\/a><strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Follow Metro.co.uk on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MetroUK\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MetroUK\">Twitter<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MetroUK\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MetroUK\">Facebook<\/a> for the latest news updates.<\/strong> <strong>You can now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/how-to-subscribe-to-metro-news-notifications\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/how-to-subscribe-to-metro-news-notifications\/\">here<\/a>. <\/strong> <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>{“@context”:”https:\/\/schema.org”,”@type”:”VideoObject”,”name”:”Metro.co.uk”,”duration”:”T1M57S”,”thumbnailUrl”:”https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2025\/04\/10\/11\/97122027-0-image-m-96_1744282427549.jpg”,”uploadDate”:”2025-04-10T11:48:15+0100″,”description”:”Former ballerina Ksenia Karelina , a US-Russian dual national, was supposed to spend the next 12 years of her life behind bars after being convicted of treason last year and branded an ‘American spy’.”,”contentUrl”:”https:\/\/videos.metro.co.uk\/video\/met\/2025\/04\/10\/4320745678254030674\/480x270_MP4_4320745678254030674.mp4″,”height”:270,”width”:480} To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up Next Previous […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":300,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-russia-ukraine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2128"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2134,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2128\/revisions\/2134"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/softnary.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}