President Donald Trump greeted Ksenia Karelina, a Russian-American ballerina and esthetician who was held in a Russian prison for over a year, at the White House.
Trump met with Karelina, 34, in the Oval Office on Monday, shaking her hand and telling her it’s “an honor.” When the 34-year-old responded that it was her honor to meet him, Trump, speaking to the people she had arrived with, said: “Now I know why you fought so hard to get her out of there.”
Karelina was born in Russia and immigrated to the U.S. more than 10 years ago, building a life in Los Angeles as an esthetician at a spa and obtaining citizenship in 2021. But Karelina was arrested in January 2024 while visiting her parents and sister in the southern Russian city of Yekaterinburg.
Karelina was accused of treason after she donated $51 from her U.S. bank account to a charity that sends aid to Ukraine on February 24, 2022 — the day Russia launched its full-scale invasion into the country.
Russia’s Federal Security Service issued a statement at the time claiming that Karelina had been “proactively collecting funds… which were subsequently used to purchase tactical medical items, equipment, means of destruction and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”
Following Karelina’s arrest, the charity she donated to released a statement condemning her arrest and calling on the US government “to continue to do everything in its power to demand that President Putin release all those unjustly detained by Russia and to hold Russia’s political and military leadership accountable for their unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.”
In August, she was sentenced to 12 years in a penal colony for “high treason.” Russian authorities claimed she “fully admitted her guilt.”
Karelina was released last month and safely returned to the U.S. The 34-year-old was freed as part of a prisoner exchange between the U.S. and Russia, negotiated by the CIA and senior Russian intelligence officials. Russian President Vladimir Putin pardoned Karelina before the swap.
“Today, the United States welcomes the return of American-Russian ballerina Ksenia Karelina who was sentenced by a Russian court to a penal colony for 12 years after authorities discovered she had donated to a Ukrainian charity,” Mike Waltz said last month while serving as National Security Adviser.
“President Trump and his administration continue to work around the clock to ensure Americans detained abroad are returned home to their families,” he added.
Her release came after Russian authorities released Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former Marine Paul Whelan, and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva in August during a historic prisoner swap.
“They’re out of Russia. Earlier today, they were flown to Turkey, and soon there’ll be wheels up on their way home to see their families,” President Joe Biden said at the time. “This is an incredible relief for all the family members gathered here. It’s relief to the friends and colleagues all across the country who have been praying for this day for a long time.”
However, around 10 Americans remain in Russian prisons, Reuters reports. Among them is Stephen James Hubbard, a 73-year-old accused of serving as a mercenary for Ukraine. He was sentenced to more than six years in prison after Russian officials claimed he pleaded guilty.
The State Department declared Hubbard “wrongfully detained,” meaning the U.S. can now negotiate for his release. He’s believed to be the only American still in Russian custody with this designation, Reuters reports.
