An American citizen has been released from Russian custody in a prisoner swap, officials from the United States and Russia said on Thursday, amid a broader effort by the two countries to mend relations.
The American, Ksenia Karelina, was serving a 12-year sentence in Russia after being convicted of treason for donating about $50 to a nonprofit group that sends assistance to Ukraine. She also holds Russian citizenship.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that Ms. Karelina, 33, was “on a plane back home to the United States.”
“She was wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year and President Trump secured her release,” he wrote on X.
Russia’s intelligence agency said that Ms. Karelina had been released after a presidential pardon in exchange for Artur Petrov, a citizen of Russia and Germany whom the Justice Department had charged with export control violations.
The prisoner exchange highlighted how Moscow and Washington have been willing to engage in meaningful diplomacy even as talks led by the Trump administration about a potential cease-fire in Ukraine appear stalled.
It came as U.S. and Russian diplomats met in Turkey to discuss practical measures to improve relations — like the resumption of direct flights and staffing levels at embassies.
The C.I.A. said it had played a key role in the swap. It said in a statement that the exchange was negotiated with other partners, including the United Arab Emirates, and showed “the importance of keeping lines of communication open with Russia” despite challenges.
“Today, President Trump brought home another wrongfully detained American from Russia,” the agency’s director, John Ratcliffe, said in a statement. “I’m proud of the C.I.A. officers who worked tirelessly to support this effort”
It was not clear whether Thursday’s exchange would herald further diplomatic breakthroughs between the United States and Russia. Despite a flurry of high-profile meetings over the past weeks, several significant issues under discussion remain unresolved, such as the return of diplomatic property and the future of sanctions.
Ms. Karelina’s detention was one in a string of cases that raised fears that the Kremlin seeks to use American citizens as bargaining chips to be exchanged for Russians held in the West. An American basketball star, Brittney Griner, and a journalist, Evan Gershkovich, were both freed in high-profile prisoner swaps during the Biden administration.
In February, Russia agreed to release Marc Fogel, an American teacher who was imprisoned in Russia on drug charges. The release of Mr. Fogel — whom the Biden administration had classified as wrongfully detained — was part of a deal with the Kremlin negotiated by Mr. Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.
In exchange, officials said, the United States agreed to release Alexander Vinnik, a Russian who had been convicted of conspiracy to commit money laundering. That was seen as an effort to establish good will as the Trump administration sought ways to bring about an agreement to end the war in Ukraine that Russia began more than three years ago.
Later that month, Russia released a U.S. citizen who had been arrested 10 days earlier at Moscow’s airport on drug smuggling charges.
Still, other Americans remain in Russian custody, including Stephen Hubbard, a schoolteacher captured by Russia in Ukraine whose release Washington is pushing for.
Thursday’s prisoner swap — which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal — took place at the airport in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Emirates, with Emirati mediation, according to Russia’s intelligence agency. The Emirati foreign ministry posted a smiling photo of Ms. Karelina on the tarmac.
Her fiancé, Chris van Heerden, said he was “overjoyed” by the news. In a statement shared by Global Reach, an organization that has been lobbying on Ms. Karelina’s behalf, he expressed gratitude to Mr. Trump and U.S. officials.
Ms. Karelina, who lives in Los Angeles, was arrested last year while visiting her grandparents in Yekaterinburg, a city about 850 miles east of Moscow. The charges against her revolved around a one-time donation to Razom for Ukraine, a New York-based nonprofit that sends nonmilitary assistance to the country.
Mr. Petrov, 33, was detained in Cyprus in 2023 and then extradited to the United States. The Justice Department accused him of conspiracy to smuggle U.S. microelectronics to military factories in Russia that produce weapons for its war in Ukraine.
In a video released by Russia’s intelligence agency on Thursday, Mr. Petrov was seen getting a medical check onboard a plane and said he was “feeling OK but really tired.”
Julian E. Barnes and Ismaeel Naar contributed reporting.
