Ballerina Ksenia Karelina – jailed in Russia after giving £40 to a charity supporting Ukraine – has been launched as a part of a prisoner swap cope with the US.
The 34-year-old US-Russian citizen was accused of treason when she was arrested in Yekaterinburg, in southwestern Russia, in February.
Investigators searched her cell phone and located that she made a $51.80 (£40) donation to Razom, a charity that gives assist to Ukraine, on the primary day of Russia’s invasion in 2022.
She admitted the cost at a closed trial within the metropolis in August final 12 months and was later jailed for 12 years.
Mikhail Mushailov, Ms Karelina’s lawyer, mentioned on Instagram that she had been flown to the US from Abu Dhabi within the United Arab Emirates on Thursday.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio added that Ms Karelina “was wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year,” and mentioned “President Trump secured her release… (and) will continue to work for the release of ALL Americans”.
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Ksenia Karelina was jailed after admitting to treason over the donation final August. Pic: AP
Ms Karelina, an novice ballerina, was born in Russia however moved to the US in 2012 and have become a citizen in 2021. She had moved to Los Angeles, the place she labored in a spa.
She had been again in Russia visiting household in the beginning of 2024 when she was arrested, in keeping with rights group The First Division.
Russia’s Federal Safety Service (FSB) claimed she had proactively collected the cash within the pursuits of one of many Ukrainian organisations earlier than it jailed her.
It claimed the donation was “used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces”.
The charity denied it supplied any army help to Kyiv.
German-Russian citizen launched in swap
In change for Ms Karelina’s launch, Arthur Petrov – who arrested in 2023 for allegedly exporting delicate microelectronics – was launched.
The twin German-Russian citizen was detained in Cyprus on the request of the US.
Final 12 months, the US Justice Division mentioned that Petrov participated in a scheme to acquire American-sourced microelectronics for producers supplying the Russian army.
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