Russian American ballerina Ksenia Karelina said in a video she was “so grateful” to President Donald Trump after landing on American soil following a prisoner swap with Russia. 

Trump shared the video Friday morning on his Truth Social account, writing “Glad to have you back home.” 

“Mr. Trump, I’m so, so grateful for you to bring me home and for [the] American government. And I never felt more blessed to be American and I’m so, so happy to get home. Thank you,” Karelina said to a camera after landing late Thursday night at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. 

Karelina shared a long embrace with her fiancé, boxer Chris Van Deerden, after stepping off the plane. She has been offered Post Isolation Support Activities, which is a reacclimation program for wrongful detainees, a U.S. official said. 

Karelina was sentenced to 12 years in a Russian penal colony after pleading guilty to treason for donating $51.80 to a Ukrainian charity in early 2024. She was initially detained for “petty hooliganism” while visiting family in Russia that year. 

Russian authorities claimed that Karelina, who lived in Los Angeles, raised money for the Ukrainian army and took part in “public actions” that supported Ukraine while in the U.S.  

Karelina was left out of a massive August 2024 prisoner swap that resulted in the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan and Alsu Kurmasheva from Russia. 

Ksenia Karelina thanked President Donald Trump in a video he posted to his Truth Social account on Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP/Alex Brandon)

She is the latest American prisoner detained in another country to be freed under Trump’s administration. In February, Trump brought American history teacher Marc Fogel, who had been detained in Russia since 2021, back to the U.S. 

Fox News’ Lauralee Guidry, Elizabeth Pritchett and Alex Hogan contributed to this report.