The release of former ballerina Ksenia Karelina, a Los Angeles aesthetician who was imprisoned by Russia more than a year ago for treason, brought an outpouring of relief and joy from friends and co-workers in Southern California.
Karelina was born in Russia before coming to the United States more than a decade ago, making a life for herself in Los Angeles where she worked at a spa in Beverly Hills.
Isabella Koretz, Karelina’s former boss, said she was eager to see her after learning Karelina was on a plane home to the United States.
“I am overwhelmed with joy and relief at the news of Ksenia Karelina’s release,” Koretz said in a statement. “She is not only a former employee, but a remarkable, kind, and resilient young woman who has shown incredible strength throughout this unimaginable ordeal. I cannot wait to finally see her and give her the biggest hug.
“We are deeply grateful to the federal government for helping bring her home, and we continue to hope and pray for the safe return of all those still waiting to be reunited with their loved ones. Today is a day of hope, love, and profound gratitude.”
A photo of Karelina on the plane with a U.S. flag was posted Thursday morning to her boyfriend’s social media platforms. Chris Van Heerden, who spoke with NBCLA last year, said in a post on X Thursday morning than Karelina was “free and on her way home to the greatest country in the world.”
Karelina’s lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, confirmed her release in a statement on Instagram and said, “Two hours ago she was in touch with her relatives and took off from Abu Dhabi to the U.S.”
Mushailov said he had known about her release since Tuesday.
Loved ones are fearing for the safety of 33-year-old LA resident Ksenia Karelina who is under arrest in Russia and accused of treason after allegedly participating in fundraising efforts for Ukraine. Alex Rozier reports for the NBC4 News on Feb. 20, 2024.
In a post on X, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Karelina “is on a plane back home to the United States” after having been “wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year.” Rubio credited President Trump with securing her release.
The development comes more than a year after Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) took her into custody during a January 2024 visit with her parents and young sister in Russia. According to a statement by FSB at the time, she was suspected of “providing financial assistance to a foreign state in activities directed against the security of our country.”
Further details or evidence of her alleged crime were not provided.
Karelina, 33 at the time, was sentenced in August to 12 years in a penal colony for what authorities in Russia said was “high treason” over what Russian legal group Perviy Otdel said were donations of just over $51.80 from her U.S. bank account on Feb. 24, 2022, to a Ukraine aid charity.
The transaction date was the same day Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The FSB did not confirm the transaction amount, but said the donation “was subsequently used to purchase tactical medical supplies, equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.”
Karelina was sentenced at a closed trial in the southwestern Russian city of Yekaterinberg.
Van Heerden said the two spent Christmas together in 2023 in Los Angeles and visited Turkey for the new year. He returned to the United States on Jan. 2, 2024, and Karelina traveled to visit family in Russia, including her 90-year-old grandmother, he said.
In February 2024, Van Heerden said Karelina encountered problems when she arrived and was temporarily detained at the airport. She was released, but authorities kept her phone, Van Heerden said.
The two spoke, Karelina using her grandmother’s phone, for about three weeks until Jan. 27, he said.
“She said ‘I’m going to go, in a few hours. I’m going to go pick up my phone,’” Van Heerden told NBCLA last year. “And it was nighttime here, so I said, ‘I’ll speak to you in a couple hours because I’m going to go to bed’, and then that was the last we spoke.”
Karelina was born in Russia and was a dual U.S.-Russian citizen. She came to the U.S. to study at the University of Maryland in Baltimore before relocating to Los Angeles, according to the Associated Press.
When she arrived in Southern California in 2017, Karelina worked as a receptionist at Ciel Spa at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills and obtained her U.S. citizenship in July 2021, according to a website maintained by supporters of Karelina who advocated for her release. She graduated from aesthetician school about a year later.
Karelina’s release was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, which reported she was freed in exchange for the release of Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in Cyprus in 2023 at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.
The FSB later confirmed the swap in a statement.
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