Russia and US bring spa worker and tech smuggler back home in prisoner swap
PHOTO CAPTION: Russian-American citizen Ksenia Karelina, serving a 12-year prison sentence in Russia after she was found guilty of treason, is escorted by a security officer towards a plane at an airport in an unidentified location during a prisoner swap between Russia and the United States, in this still image from video broadcast in Russian state media April 10, 2025. Russian State Media/Handout via REUTERS
By Lucy Papachristou and Guy Faulconbridge
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia released a Los Angeles spa worker on Thursday sentenced to 12 years in jail for donating to a charity aiding Ukraine in exchange for a man accused of crafting a global smuggling ring to spirit sensitive U.S. electronics to Russia's military.
The exchange, which took place at Abu Dhabi airport, was confirmed by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and Russia's Federal Security Service, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB.
Footage on Russian state media showed Ksenia Karelina, a dual citizen who was found guilty last year of treason by a Russian court for donating money to a U.S.-based charity providing humanitarian support to Ukraine, flying out of Russia.
Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in 2023 in Cyprus at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics, was shown entering a Russian plane from the tarmac at Abu Dhabi and undergoing medical check-ups.
"Petrov was exchanged for U.S. citizen Ksenia Karelina, who also holds Russian citizenship and was sentenced to 12 years in a penal colony for treason in the form of financial assistance to a foreign state," the FSB said in a statement.
"We express our gratitude to the UAE leadership for their assistance," the FSB said.
The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the swap, said that the deal was negotiated by CIA Director John Ratcliffe and an unidentified senior Russian intelligence official. Ratcliffe confirmed the exchange to the Journal.
Ratcliffe has spoken to both FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov and Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergei Naryshkin in recent months.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Karelina was on her way home. Her lawyer confirmed that to Reuters. Representatives for the White House and the U.S. State Department could not be immediately reached for further comment on the swap.
U.S. teacher Marc Fogel was released from a Russian prison in February during a visit by President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, to Moscow. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Russia's sovereign wealth fund chief Kirill Dmitriev were involved in those negotiations.
In August last year, the United States and Russia carried out their biggest prisoner swap since the Cold War, with 24 prisoners gaining their freedom, including U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich and ex-U.S. Marine Paul Whelan.
The U.S. Justice Department said last year that Petrov had participated in a scheme to procure U.S.-sourced microelectronics for manufacturers supplying weaponry and other equipment to the Russian military.
The Justice Department said that Petrov had formed an elaborate tech-smuggling syndicate which spirited sensitive technology to Russia's military-industrial complex through a web of shell companies. Petrov was unavailable for comment.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge in Moscow, Lucy Papachristou in London, Kritika Singh and Kanjyik Ghosh in Bengaluru, and Susan Heavey in Washington; Editing by Peter Graff, Philippa Fletcher and Alex Richardson)
