Moscow released a Russian-American ballet dancer in a prisoner swap with the US carried out early this morning in Abu Dhabi.
Ksenia Karelina, who is in her early 30s, was sentenced to 12 years in a penal colony in 2024 after a Russian court found her guilty of treason for donating £40 to a charity supporting Ukraine.
In exchange for Ms Karelina’s release, first reported by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the US freed Arthur Petrov, 33, a German-Russian national who was arrested in Cyprus in 2023 for allegedly smuggling US-sourced military technology to Russia.
The deal was spearheaded by John Ratcliffe, the CIA director, and a senior Russian intelligence official, a CIA official told the WSJ.
“Today, President Trump brought home another unjustly detained American from Russia,” Mr Ratcliffe said. “I’m proud of the CIA officers who worked tirelessly to support this effort, and we appreciate the Government of the UAE for enabling the exchange.”
Mike Waltz, the US national security advisor, confirmed that Ms Karelina would return to the United States.
The move comes as relations between Russia and the US continue to thaw. Officials from both countries arrived in Istanbul this morning for talks to normalise their diplomatic missions’ work.
Cold war is back with US-Russian prisoners exchanges.
The problematic issue is Russia can create an infinite # of “foreign agents” by fabricating false evidence (*or imprison for minor offenses as in this case*) while the US has to re-patriate actual spies.
Where’s the lefties whinging about this one then?
Thought that was jessica biel for a sec
Hopefully she’s a spy or something, otherwise it seems stupid to trade like this.
Now stop going to Russia fucking people
Slava Ukraini
Lmao how many terrorists did we release for her?
Western countries cares about their citizens. Russia knows this and is using it against us.
I hope that she doesn’t go back to russia ever again, she’ll probably be arrested on some other dubious claim.
And what did we learn???? /s
Who did we swap for
Russia frees a ballet dancer and we probably traded a serial killer named Igor the Head Sawer Offer
What an exchange. A woman who donated 47 bucks to a human rights group against an sanction breaking asshole…
Did they say who she was swapped for? Last time they did this, America swapped an arms merchant nicknamed “the merchant of death” for a basketball player…
Where’s the outrage by Republicans? They were crying rivers when Biden exchanged Brittney Yvette Griner for Viktor Bout.
Last time we gave up a international weapons dealer for a basketball player, who did we give back this time?? Your dumb enough to go to that hell hole then your dumb enough to stay. Who the fuck decides a basketball player is worth a fucking weapons dealer??? A nuclear scientist or physicists? Sure, but a BASKETBALL player??? Now a ballerina? Who did we give up this time for her? I’m hoping noone and it was just a free trade.
Edit: Arthur fucking petrov a German Russian national arrested for selling military secrets to Russia xDDD LOLLLL and we got a fucking ballerina. Morons…
#Who were the prisoners:
Ksenia Karelina, a Beverly Hills beautician and former ballerina who lives in Los Angeles, was arrested in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in early 2024. Karelina was arrested by Russian authorities when she arrived on a family visit according to her boyfriend.
She had obtained US citizenship after moving to Los Angeles and was arrested in January 2024, after returning to Russia to visit family.
A Russian court found Karelina “guilty of high treason for providing funds to the Ukrainian army.” Accounts by friends and family say Karelina donated $51.80 (€47) to a non-profit Ukrainian aid organization helping civilians impacted by the war.
Karelina was sentenced to 12 years in a Russian penal colony.
The second prisoner, Arthur Petrov, was released by the US after Washington requested his arrest in Cyprus in 2023. The US says that Petrov used a small Cyprus-based company as a front for procuring sensitive US microelectronics in order to ship them to Russia. Petrov is said to have purchased the goods under false pretenses, posing as a purchaser for fire security systems, before forwarding them to a St. Petersburg-based Russian military supplier.
Russian-American ballet dancer? Is Russia just sending its citizens to foreign countries to gain citizenship and then have them return to Russia for the sole purpose of arresting them so they have someone to exchange for their spy’s when they get caught?
So….she is Russian???
Lets be clear, the US swapped a Russian ballerina for Russian criminals. This sounds so suspect.
Any Russian criminal, and there are a lot, just has to ask their Russian American friends to go to Russia to get caught with Marijuana so that they can be swapped.
What the fucking fuck ????
Yea my ex is Russian/German.. and it’s impossible for her to return to Russia (well Siberia) without expectation of being imprisoned. Just imagine not ever being able to return home without fear of being declared a criminal.
So yea some of you can call her stupid but it’s a really shortsighted view of life to think that way. This woman is from a similar slightly more western part of Siberia.
But people should know that it’s St Petersburg, Moscow and the various oligarchs that run the gauntlet of city ownership from Chechnya through to Vladivostok who all spend much of their time between the two financial powerhouses, and their regional estates that this war is against. Not the people who are purely subjugated victims of the environment they were born into.
I don’t want to be that person, but what if these dual citizens intentionally go to Russia to be arrested and then swapped for a Russian spy.
Reverse plot of “white knights”
Free more, we’ll swap Trump for those.
Would be good if the UK could swap a spy for the soldier sentenced to 19 years who was fighting for Ukraine
27 comments
**From The Telegraph:**
Moscow released a Russian-American ballet dancer in a prisoner swap with the US carried out early this morning in Abu Dhabi.
Ksenia Karelina, who is in her early 30s, was sentenced to 12 years in a penal colony in 2024 after a Russian court found her guilty of treason for donating £40 to a charity supporting Ukraine.
In exchange for Ms Karelina’s release, first reported by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the US freed Arthur Petrov, 33, a German-Russian national who was arrested in Cyprus in 2023 for allegedly smuggling US-sourced military technology to Russia.
The deal was spearheaded by John Ratcliffe, the CIA director, and a senior Russian intelligence official, a CIA official told the WSJ.
“Today, President Trump brought home another unjustly detained American from Russia,” Mr Ratcliffe said. “I’m proud of the CIA officers who worked tirelessly to support this effort, and we appreciate the Government of the UAE for enabling the exchange.”
Mike Waltz, the US national security advisor, confirmed that Ms Karelina would return to the United States.
The move comes as relations between Russia and the US continue to thaw. Officials from both countries arrived in Istanbul this morning for talks to normalise their diplomatic missions’ work.
**Article Link:** [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/04/10/russia-ukraine-zelensky-putin-war-latest/](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/04/10/russia-ukraine-zelensky-putin-war-latest/)
Cold war is back with US-Russian prisoners exchanges.
The problematic issue is Russia can create an infinite # of “foreign agents” by fabricating false evidence (*or imprison for minor offenses as in this case*) while the US has to re-patriate actual spies.
Where’s the lefties whinging about this one then?
Thought that was jessica biel for a sec
Hopefully she’s a spy or something, otherwise it seems stupid to trade like this.
Now stop going to Russia fucking people
Slava Ukraini
Lmao how many terrorists did we release for her?
Western countries cares about their citizens. Russia knows this and is using it against us.
I hope that she doesn’t go back to russia ever again, she’ll probably be arrested on some other dubious claim.
And what did we learn???? /s
Who did we swap for
Russia frees a ballet dancer and we probably traded a serial killer named Igor the Head Sawer Offer
What an exchange. A woman who donated 47 bucks to a human rights group against an sanction breaking asshole…
Did they say who she was swapped for? Last time they did this, America swapped an arms merchant nicknamed “the merchant of death” for a basketball player…
Where’s the outrage by Republicans? They were crying rivers when Biden exchanged Brittney Yvette Griner for Viktor Bout.
Last time we gave up a international weapons dealer for a basketball player, who did we give back this time?? Your dumb enough to go to that hell hole then your dumb enough to stay. Who the fuck decides a basketball player is worth a fucking weapons dealer??? A nuclear scientist or physicists? Sure, but a BASKETBALL player??? Now a ballerina? Who did we give up this time for her? I’m hoping noone and it was just a free trade.
Edit: Arthur fucking petrov a German Russian national arrested for selling military secrets to Russia xDDD LOLLLL and we got a fucking ballerina. Morons…
#Who were the prisoners:
Ksenia Karelina, a Beverly Hills beautician and former ballerina who lives in Los Angeles, was arrested in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in early 2024. Karelina was arrested by Russian authorities when she arrived on a family visit according to her boyfriend.
She had obtained US citizenship after moving to Los Angeles and was arrested in January 2024, after returning to Russia to visit family.
A Russian court found Karelina “guilty of high treason for providing funds to the Ukrainian army.” Accounts by friends and family say Karelina donated $51.80 (€47) to a non-profit Ukrainian aid organization helping civilians impacted by the war.
Karelina was sentenced to 12 years in a Russian penal colony.
The second prisoner, Arthur Petrov, was released by the US after Washington requested his arrest in Cyprus in 2023. The US says that Petrov used a small Cyprus-based company as a front for procuring sensitive US microelectronics in order to ship them to Russia. Petrov is said to have purchased the goods under false pretenses, posing as a purchaser for fire security systems, before forwarding them to a St. Petersburg-based Russian military supplier.
His case was pending at the time of his release.
[dw.com](https://www.dw.com/en/russia-frees-ksenia-karelina-in-prisoner-swap-with-us/a-72196096)
Update: Ballet dancer arrives in US and is deported to prison in El Salvador.
The YouTube vlogger [Sabbatical ](https://youtu.be/HU9ko7xDlpI?si=idyf4QW6NXMlOKT1) went to Russia to show how wrong the West is and ended up getting thrown in jail lol
Russian-American ballet dancer? Is Russia just sending its citizens to foreign countries to gain citizenship and then have them return to Russia for the sole purpose of arresting them so they have someone to exchange for their spy’s when they get caught?
So….she is Russian???
Lets be clear, the US swapped a Russian ballerina for Russian criminals. This sounds so suspect.
Any Russian criminal, and there are a lot, just has to ask their Russian American friends to go to Russia to get caught with Marijuana so that they can be swapped.
What the fucking fuck ????
Yea my ex is Russian/German.. and it’s impossible for her to return to Russia (well Siberia) without expectation of being imprisoned. Just imagine not ever being able to return home without fear of being declared a criminal.
So yea some of you can call her stupid but it’s a really shortsighted view of life to think that way. This woman is from a similar slightly more western part of Siberia.
But people should know that it’s St Petersburg, Moscow and the various oligarchs that run the gauntlet of city ownership from Chechnya through to Vladivostok who all spend much of their time between the two financial powerhouses, and their regional estates that this war is against. Not the people who are purely subjugated victims of the environment they were born into.
I don’t want to be that person, but what if these dual citizens intentionally go to Russia to be arrested and then swapped for a Russian spy.
Reverse plot of “white knights”
Free more, we’ll swap Trump for those.
Would be good if the UK could swap a spy for the soldier sentenced to 19 years who was fighting for Ukraine
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