Russia released a dual Russian-U.S. citizen jailed for donating to a charity providing aid to Ukraine, her lawyer said on Thursday, in what the Wall Street Journal described as a swap for a Russian-German national jailed in the United States.
A lawyer for Ksenia Karelina, who was found guilty last year of treason by a Russian court for donating money to a U.S.-based charity providing humanitarian support to Ukraine, told Reuters she was on her way back to the United States.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe and a senior Russian intelligence official conducted talks for the swap in Abu Dhabi, according to a CIA official quoted by the Journal.
"Today, President Trump brought home another wrongfully detained American from Russia," Ratcliffe said in a statement to the Journal. "I’m proud of the CIA officers who worked tirelessly to support this effort, and we appreciate the Government of U.A.E. for enabling the exchange."
Karelina left for the U.S. on a plane from Abu Dhabi on Thursday morning, her Russian lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, said.
She was swapped for Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen, who was arrested in 2023 in Cyprus at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.
The U.S. Justice Department said last year that Petrov had participated in a scheme to procure U.S.-sourced microelectronics for manufacturers supplying weaponry and other equipment to the Russian military.
