Ksenia Karelina was born in Yekaterinburg, Russia, but at the age of 20, the young ballet dancer emigrated to the United States. In 2021, she became a U.S. citizen, and in 2024, she made the grave mistake of returning to Yekaterinburg to visit her family. That’s when the Russian government arrested her for “petty hooliganism,” but they upgraded those charges to treason and claimed she was a spy for her new home country.
What did she do to deserve all of this? It must have been pretty bad, right? On the first day of the Russian-Ukrainian War in 2022, she donated $51 to a nonprofit organization that provides humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
Her boyfriend, Chris van Heerden, appeared on CBS in 2024, claiming that he felt uneasy about her travels, but Karelina assured him that it would be safe to return to Russia since she had dual citizenship. They visited Istanbul together for her birthday, but he felt uneasy about going to Russia, so she went alone. Authorities detained her at the airport and questioned her for up to 16 hours. Van Heerden said he had no idea how they knew about the donation and said that Karelina was proud of her Russian heritage and barely even kept up with the news, much less had any ulterior motives.
In August of last year, she pled guilty to treason and was sentenced to spend 12 years in a Russian penal colony. Originally, she was threatened with life in prison. The court claimed her donation ended up going toward the purchase of weapons, ammunition, and other equipment that Ukraine used in the war.
“Her lawyers said she acknowledged transferring the funds, though she did not admit to intentionally directing them to organizations that might have used the money for actions against Russia. She didn’t expect that her donation would end up supporting anti-Russian activities,” according to CBS. One of her lawyers also said this type of trial has become pretty typical in Russia.
The New York Times called it the “latest in a series of treason and other cases by Russia against citizens of Western countries,” adding that “The surge in such cases in recent years has raised concerns that the Kremlin views the accused as valuable assets to be traded for high-profile Russians held by the United States and other countries in the West.”
The Biden administration failed to secure her release, but on Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz took to social media to announce that the Donald Trump administration had was bringing Karelina home in exchange for another prisoner, German-Russian citizen Arthur Petrov, “who was arrested in 2023 in Cyprus at the request of the U.S. on charges of exporting sensitive microelectronics.”
American Ksenia Karelina is on a plane back home to the United States.
She was wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year and President Trump secured her release. @POTUS will continue to work for the release of ALL Americans.
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) April 10, 2025
Today, the United States welcomes the return of American-Russian ballerina Ksenia Karelina who was sentenced by a Russian court to a penal colony for 12 years after authorities discovered she had donated to a Ukrainian charity.
President Trump and his administration continue to…
— Mike Waltz (@MikeWaltz47) April 10, 2025
The exchange took place at an airport in the United Arab Emirates, and according to NPR, “Video footage released by Russia’s Federal Security Service showed the tarmac exchange, one that appeared far less tense than several U.S.-Russian prisoner swaps that took place under the Biden administration.” CIA director John Ratcliffe was also on hand, and pictures of a happy and relieved Karelina have flooded social media. Her lawyers say she was able to call her family while en route to her newfound freedom.
Honored to greet Ksenia Karelina early this morning and help get her returned back home to the United States. Grateful for the @CIA officers who worked to make this success possible!
President Trump will continue to work for the release of all wrongfully detained Americans. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/AjHyD2Nc4F
— CIA Director John Ratcliffe (@CIADirector) April 10, 2025
Ksenia, a beautiful ballerina held for over a year in Russia is on our 🇺🇸 plane en route home! Thank you @realDonaldTrump! And the A team @SteveWitkoff @SecRubio @CIADirector @MikeWaltz47 🇺🇸💪 https://t.co/v5zRLPksBn pic.twitter.com/8SaNIGYIoz
— Adam Boehler (@aboehler) April 10, 2025
My GOD is a faithful GOD that hears the cry of the broken heart and HE answers prayers. In JESUS’ name, KSENIA KARELINA is free and on her way home to the greatest country in the World, the United States of America 🇺🇸
Thank you, President @POTUS
— Chris van Heerden (@TheHeat001) April 10, 2025
It’s not clear whether Karelina will visit the White House like Russian prisoner Marc Fogel did in February when the Trump administration secured his release, but the president did speak on the topic during his cabinet meeting on Thursday. He credited his friend and Ultimate Fighting Championship president and CEO Dana White with bringing Karelina to his attention.
.@POTUS praises the safe return of ballerina Ksenia Karelina, who was wrongfully detained in Russia for more than a year, and gives a shout-out to @danawhite ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/lba7NucwS2
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) April 10, 2025
Before her wrongful imprisonment, Karelina, who is 33 years old, lived in Los Angeles.
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