After more than a year of being wrongfully detained in Russia, Russian American ballerina Ksenia Karelina is back on U.S. soil—and she’s crediting former President Donald Trump for her release.
In a video filmed shortly after her return late Thursday night at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, Karelina said, “Mr. Trump, I’m so, so grateful for you bringing me home, and to the American government. I’ve never felt more blessed to be American, and I’m just so happy to be back. Thank you.”
Trump shared the video on Truth Social Friday morning, writing, “Glad to have you back home.”
Upon arrival, Karelina reunited with her fiancé, boxer Chris Van Heerden, in an emotional embrace on the tarmac. A U.S. official said she’ll receive support through Post Isolation Support Activities, a reintegration program offered to wrongfully detained Americans.
Karelina was released Thursday in a prisoner swap that sent German-Russian national Arthur Petrov back to Moscow. Petrov had been arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. on charges of exporting sensitive microelectronics, The Wall Street Journal reported.
“Ksenia Karelina is flying home after being unjustly imprisoned in Russia,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X. “President Trump secured her release and will continue working to bring home all Americans.”
Her case drew international attention after she was sentenced to 12 years in a Russian penal colony in early 2024 for treason—specifically, for donating $51.80 to a Ukrainian charity. Initially, Russian authorities detained her for “petty hooliganism” while she was visiting family in Russia.
Officials later accused Karelina, a Los Angeles resident, of raising money for the Ukrainian military and participating in pro-Ukraine demonstrations while living in the U.S.
She had not been included in a major prisoner exchange last August that resulted in the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, and Alsu Kurmasheva.
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