Dual national prisoners head home in US-Russia swap

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia on Thursday released a dual citizen jailed for donating to a charity providing aid to Ukraine in a swap with the United States for a German-Russian citizen accused of exporting sensitive U.S. electronics for use in Russia's military.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Ksenia Karelina, 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, was on her way home.

Her lawyer confirmed to Reuters that Karelina had been released as part of a swap for Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen arrested in 2023 in Cyprus at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the news.

Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe and a senior Russian intelligence official conducted talks for the swap in Abu Dhabi, according to a CIA official quoted by the Journal.

"Today, President (Donald) Trump brought home another wrongfully detained American from Russia," Ratcliffe said in a statement to the Journal. "I'm proud of the CIA officers who worked tirelessly to support this effort, and we appreciate the Government of U.A.E. for enabling the exchange."

U.S. teacher Marc Fogel was released from a Russian prison in February during a visit by 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 the 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 Journal said the CIA's Ratcliffe had spoken to both Federal Security Service (FSB) Director Alexander Bortnikov and Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergei Naryshkin.

Karelina left for the U.S. on a plane from Abu Dhabi on Thursday morning, her Russian lawyer, Mikhail Mushailov, said.

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 Lucy Papachristou and Reuters in MoscowEditing by Peter Graff and Philippa Fletcher)