Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned on Thursday that an American citizen have been launched from Russian custody in a unprecedented prisoner switch, amid a broader effort through Washington and Moscow to fix family members.
The prisoner, Ksenia Karelina, a twin citizen of Russia and the US, used to be serving a 12-year sentence in Russia after being convicted of treason for donating about $50 to a nonprofit group that sends help to Ukraine.
Mr. Rubio mentioned on Thursday that Ms. Karelina, 33, used to be “on a aircraft again house to the US.”
“She used to be wrongfully detained through Russia for over a yr and President Trump secured her unlock,” he wrote on X.
Information of Ms. Karelina’s unlock used to be first reported by The Wall Street Journal, which mentioned the transfer used to be a part of a prisoner switch that came about in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates capital.
It got here as U.S. and Russian diplomats have been assembly in Turkey to talk about resuming direct flights and restoring staffing ranges at embassies in each international locations.
In February, Russia agreed to release Marc Fogel, an American instructor who used to be imprisoned in Russia on drug fees. The discharge of Mr. Fogel — whom the Biden management had classified as wrongfully detained — used to be a part of a care for the Kremlin negotiated through Mr. Trump’s particular envoy to the Heart East, Steve Witkoff. In trade, the US launched Alexander Vinnik, a Russian who have been convicted of conspiracy to dedicate cash laundering.
