US-Russian dual national Ksenia Karelina is released in prisoner swap between Moscow and Washington

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the lawyer for a U.S.-Russian dual national jailed in Russia on treason charges say she has been freed in a prisoner exchange between Moscow and Washington

Russia US Prisoner Exchange (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

A U.S.-Russian dual national jailed in Russia on treason charges was freed Thursday in a prisoner exchange with Washington, the woman's lawyer and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.

Ksenia Karelina also identified in the media as Ksenia Khavana, is “on a plane back home to the United States,” Rubio said in a post on X. She was arrested in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg in February 2024 and convicted of treason later that year on charges stemming from a donation of about $52 to a charity aiding Ukraine.

The U.S. authorities have called the case against her “absolutely ludicrous.”