A U.S. ballerina jailed for 12 years in Russia after donating $51 to a charity supporting Ukraine has been freed, according to her lawyer and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Ksenia Karelina was arrested in Yekaterinburg in February last year after returning to Russia to visit her family.
On Thursday, Mr Rubio confirmed that she had been released and was on a plane home to the U.S.
Karelina is “on a plane back home to the United States”, Mr Rubio said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Karelina has been freed as part of a prisoner exchange between the U.S. and Russia.
She obtained US citizenship in 2021 after marrying an American and moving to Los Angeles, where she worked at a spa.
Russia’s FSB security service had claimed she “proactively collected 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”.
The swap comes after Karelina’s partner, former boxer champion Chris Van Heerden, advocated for her release on The Megyn Kelly Show yesterday.
Van Heerden claimed that American film director Peter Berg and Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White campaigned for her return, including making a call to the US government. The Independent could not verify his claims.
The U.S. authorities have called the case against her “absolutely ludicrous”.
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