Ksenia Karelina, also identified in the media as Ksenia Khavana, is “on a plane back home to the United States,” Rubio said in a post on X. She was arrested in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg in February 2024 and convicted of treason later that year on charges stemming from a donation of about $52 to a charity aiding Ukraine.

The WSJ said that the U.S. in exchange freed Arthur Petrov, a dual German-Russian citizen, who was arrested in 2023 in Cyprus at the request of the U.S. for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics to Russia. There was no immediate confirmation from the Russian or U.S. authorities.

Petrov was extradited to the U.S. in August 2024 where he faced charges of export control violations, smuggling, wire fraud and money laundering. He was accused of involvement in a scheme to procure U.S.-sourced microelectronics subject to U.S. export controls on behalf of a Russia-based supplier of critical electronics components for manufacturers supplying weaponry and other equipment to the Russian military.