Russia and the United States exchanged prisoners on the morning of April 10 in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi. This was done "as a sign of further strengthening of trust".
This is reported by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
Moscow has released Ksenia Karelin, a dual Russian-American citizen who was sentenced to 12 years in prison last year for donating money to a Ukrainian charity based in the United States.
In return, Washington released Artur Petrov, a citizen of Russia and Germany. The man was arrested in 2023 in Cyprus at the request of the United States for exporting sensitive microelectronics.
“Today, President Trump brought home another unjustly detained American from Russia. I am proud of the CIA staff who worked tirelessly to support this effort, and we are grateful to the UAE government for facilitating the exchange,” CIA Director John Ratcliffe said.
He spoke several times by phone with the FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov and the head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service Sergei Naryshkin after his appointment, sources said. The contacts indicate deepening ties between the two countries’ intelligence services, the WSJ reported.
“This exchange demonstrates the importance of keeping communication with Russia open, despite the deep problems in our bilateral relationship,” a CIA spokeswoman said.
- This is the second prisoner exchange between the two countries since President Donald Trump was inaugurated. In February 2025, Moscow released former US embassy employee Mark Vogel, who was sentenced to 14 years in a maximum security prison in Russia for drug smuggling.
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