Russia says Arthur Petrov freed by US in prisoner swap

Date: 10 April 2025 8:50pm WAT

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(FILES) This grab from a handout footage taken and released by Sverdlovsk regional Court press service on June 20, 2024 shows US-Russian citizen Ksenia Karelina standing in a cage at the Sverdlovsk regional Court in Yekaterinburg. Moscow has released US-Russian ballet dancer Ksenia Karelina, who had been detained in Russia, US State Secretary Marco Rubio said on April 10, 2025, following a Wall Street Journal report that a prisoner swap had been agreed. (Photo by HANDOUT / Sverdlovsk regional Court press / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / SVERDLOVSK DISTRICT COURT " - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Russia’s FSB security service on Thursday said that Arthur Petrov, who was facing up to 20 years in a US jail for violating export controls, was released in exchange for ballet dancer Ksenia Karelina.

The prisoner exchange is the second since US President Donald Trump came to office in January and called for rapprochement with Russia.

“Petrov was exchanged for US citizen Ksenia Karelina, who also has Russian citizenship, sentenced to 12 years in jail for treason,” the security service said in a statement.

The FSB released a video reportedly showing the exchange in an Abu Dhabi airport with about a dozen people in suits, their faces blurred, overseeing the prisoner swap.

Petrov said on the video he was feeling “not bad”, but was very tired after a tough flight and not sleeping for two days.

The Kremlin declined to comment.

Arthur Petrov, 33, a Russian and German national, was arrested in Cyprus in 2023 and later extradited to the United States for seeking to export American-made electronics to Russia for military use.

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) said Petrov sought to buy microcontrollers and integrated circuits while knowing they could not be lawfully exported to Russia.

The United States and its allies imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia since President Vladimir Putin ordered a military offensive on pro-Western Ukraine.