Russia Announces Prisoner Exchange Deal with US
(MENAFN) The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) officially announced on Thursday that a prisoner swap had taken place with the United States, involving the exchange of one American citizen for one Russian national.
Based on a statement from the FSB, the exchange occurred at an airport in the United Arab Emirates, with the agency expressing gratitude to the UAE for its role in facilitating the humanitarian mediation.
"On April 10, Russian citizen Artur Petrov was returned to his homeland at Abu Dhabi International Airport through the mediation of the UAE. Petrov was exchanged for US citizen Ksenia Karelina," the statement noted.
It was further revealed that Karelina had been granted a pardon earlier this April through a presidential decree, according to the FSB statement.
The prisoner swap was previously disclosed by John Radcliffe, the Director of the US Central Intelligence Agency, and later confirmed by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Petrov had been apprehended in 2023 in Greek Cyprus following a request from US law enforcement authorities and was extradited to the United States in 2024. He was facing charges for violating the Export Control Act, with a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
Meanwhile, Karelina, who holds dual Russian and US citizenship and resides in Los Angeles, was arrested in 2024 in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
