Ksenia Karelina is on her way home.
Approximately a year following the incarceration of the ex-ballerina from America in Russia on charges of “high treason,” during a visit to her relatives, she has now been released. This fact was affirmed by CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
Today, it was announced that Ksenia Karelina is back in the U.S., a country she was wrongfully detained in Russia. This information was communicated in a statement made on April 10th to NBC News.
The individual who became a U.S. citizen after emigrating from an eastern European nation over a decade ago was freed in a prisoner exchange in the United Arab Emirates, as stated by Ratcliffe. Additionally, her lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, announced this news on Instagram, according to reports.
In January 2024, she was arrested by Russia’s Federal Security Service in the city of Yekaterinburg. Later, during a closed trial in the Sverdlovsky Region Court in Yekaterinburg, she confessed to her crimes. This admission led to her being sentenced to spend 12 years in a penal colony, as reported in an August 2024 Russian news release that was reviewed by TopMob News.
According to Russian legal group Perviy Otdel, Karelina made approximately a $50 donation to a charity providing assistance to Ukraine in February 2022, on the very same day Russia initiated its military invasion of the country. Furthermore, her charitable contribution was also verified by the spa where she was employed in Los Angeles.
In the trial, the Sverdlovsky Region Court did not specify the amount she donated, but charged a 33-year-old woman with supporting Ukraine’s military forces during sentencing.
Without being asked, Karelina moved resources for a Ukrainian organization’s benefit. These funds later helped the Ukrainian military acquire tactical medical supplies, equipment, arms, and ammunition.
After Karelina’s apprehension, Chris Van Heerden disclosed additional details about her journey to Russia, where she visited her 90-year-old grandmother. The duo had celebrated New Year’s Eve in Istanbul the previous year and while Van Heerden returned to California, his girlfriend opted for a brief detour on her way back.
He informed NBC Los Angeles in February, “She reassured me by saying, ‘I will be alright, everything is okay.’ She is Russian, she’s resilient,” and added, “But this situation is causing me some worry because I had already purchased the airline ticket.
It was shared that Karelina encountered difficulties as soon as she set foot in the country. This included being detained at the airport upon arrival. Afterward, she was freed, as stated by Van Heerden, but Russian officials kept her phone. They opted to communicate with her via her mother’s phone for a span of three weeks until just two days before her scheduled return flight to L.A.
He stated, “‘In a few hours, I plan to leave.’ He added, ‘I’m heading out soon to retrieve my phone.’ As it was nighttime where he was, he told me, ‘I’ll get back to you in a couple of hours as I’m going to bed now,’ and that marked the end of our conversation.
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2025-04-10 18:23