Former ballerina ‘really, really happy’ since release from Russian prison

U.S.-Russian dual citizen Ksenia Karelina, a former ballerina, said she’s been “really, really happy” since she was released from Russia in a prisoner exchange in April.

“It feels amazing. It feels so great. And I’m just overwhelmed with feeling of happiness and gratitude now,” Karelina said in an exclusive interview on NewsNation’s “Cuomo,” when anchor Chris Cuomo asked how it feels to be back home.

“It’s so great to feel this, like, sunshine on my skin, feel my loved one next to me, every morning and every night, and I’m just really, really happy now,” she added, gesturing to her boyfriend, Chris van Heerden, who joined her for the interview.

Karelina was arrested in February 2024 in Yekaterinburg after returning to Russia to visit her family. A Russian court convicted her of treason for donating just north of $50 to a U.S.-based Ukrainian charity, and she was sentenced to 12 years in prison. 

The State Department, which previously determined Karelina had been wrongfully detained, announced in April that President Trump had “secured her release” and that she was “on a plane back home to the United States.”

Karelina was released in exchange for Arthur Petrov, a dual Russian-German national.

Trump met with Karelina in the Oval Office in May. The meeting was closed to press, but the White House posted footage, and the president could be heard telling the former ballet dancer, “Congratulations. That’s very nice. That’s a great honor.”