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US-Russian citizen released in Moscow-Washington prisoner swap
A US-Russian dual national imprisoned in Russia on treason charges was freed on Thursday in a prisoner exchange with Washington, the woman’s lawyer and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
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Ksenia Karelina, also identified in the media as Ksenia Khavana, is “on a plane back home to the United States”, Rubio said in a post on X. She was arrested in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg in February 2024 and convicted of treason later that year on charges stemming from a donation of about US$52 to a charity aiding Ukraine.
The US authorities have called the case against her “absolutely ludicrous”. Karelina was among a growing number of Americans arrested in Russia in recent years as tensions between Moscow and Washington spiked over the war in Ukraine. Her release is the latest in a series of high-profile prisoner exchanges Russia and the United States carried out in the last three years.
Karelina, a former ballet dancer, reportedly obtained US citizenship after marrying an American and moving to Los Angeles. She was arrested when she returned to Russia to visit her family last year.
Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB, accused her of “proactively” collecting money for a Ukrainian organisation that was supplying gear to Kyiv’s forces. The First Department, a Russian rights group, said the charges stemmed from a US$51.80 donation to a US charity aiding Ukraine.
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