Watch | Russian-US Dual citizen Ksenia Karelina thanks Donald Trump after her release in prisoner swap; who is she?

A Los Angeles-based ballet dancer, Ksenia Karelina, released by Russia as part of a prisoner swap landed safely in the United States Thursday night, the second swap under President Donald Trump as Moscow and Washington push to rebuild ties.

Karelina descended the stairs of the jet plane where she was greeted by several loved ones — including her boyfriend, South African boxer Chris van Heerden — who applauded and shouted “welcome home!” before embracing her.

She thanked Trump and said, ‘grateful to be an American’. Trump later posted it on his Truth Social channel captioning it as, ‘glad to have you back home.’

Who is Ksenia Karelina and why was she arrested?

Karelina is a Los Angeles-based ballet dancer. She stayed in Maryland for few years, where she was briefly married, and later she moved to LA where she took up the job of an aesthetician at a local spa.

Karelina, a US-Russian dual national, was convicted in Russia of “treason” over a one-time donation worth around $50 to a pro-Ukraine charity, landed at Joint Base Andrews just before 11:00 pm local time Thursday.

In the prisnor swap, Washington freed Arthur Petrov, a Russian-German national accused of illegally exporting US-made electronics to manufacturers supplying the Russian military.

The exchange took place at an airport in Abu Dhabi, where a dozen people wearing suits were present, video posted by Russia’s FSB security service showed.

The FSB video showed Petrov seated on a plane after he was freed, telling an unseen interviewer that he had not slept for two days but otherwise had no complaints. Petrov, arrested in Cyprus in 2023 and extradited to the United States, was facing 20 years in a US jail.

What Trump said about the prisnor swap?

Trump said Karelina’s case was brought to his attention by the president of the UFC mixed martial arts league and that the United States then asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to free her.

“She is now out, and that was good. So we appreciate that,” Trump told reporters at a cabinet meeting.

“We hope that we’re going to be able to make a deal relatively soon with Russia and Ukraine to stop the fighting. It’s so senseless,” Trump said.

Trump has sought to reset ties with Moscow since taking office, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine three years ago plunged bilateral relations to their lowest point since the Cold War.