ALBAWABA - Russian authorities confirmed that American-Russian ballet dancer Ksenia Karelina, who had been detained in Russia, was released from prison, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed Thursday.
AFP reported citing the US Secretary of State that a prisoner swap deal had been reached.
"American Ksenia Karelina is on a plane back home to the United States. She was wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year and President Trump secured her release," Rubio said on X.
He maintained that US President Donald Trump "will continue to work for the release of ALL Americans."
On the other hand, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) confirmed that Russian-German citizen Arthur Petrov was freed in exchange for Ksenia Karelina, Russian media reported on Thursday.
The Wall Street Journal revealed that Karelina was swapped for Arthur Petrov, who was arrested in Cyprus two years ago at the request of American authorities for allegedly exporting sensitive US-made microelectronics to Russia.
