Russian American ballerina Ksenia Karelina expressed immense gratitude towards President Donald Trump in a video after she returned to the U.S. in a prisoner exchange with Russia.

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

“Mr. Trump, I am incredibly grateful to you for bringing me back and to the American government. I have never felt more blessed to be an American and I am beyond thrilled to be home. Thank you,” Karelina stated to a camera upon her arrival late Thursday night at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

Upon disembarking, Karelina shared a heartfelt reunion with her fiancé, boxer Chris Van Deerden. According to a U.S. official, she has been provided with Post Isolation Support Activities, a program designed to help wrongfully detained individuals readjust.

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.