Ballerina Freed from Russian Prison Sends Heartfelt Message to Trump Immediately After Returning to US

The majority of Americans — those immune to establishment propaganda — know that they have a powerful advocate in President Donald Trump.

Of course, some Americans know that better than others.

In a 12-second clip posted Friday to the social media platform X, Ksenia Karelina, a Russian-American woman and former ballerina who lived most recently in Los Angeles, expressed deep gratitude to Trump for freeing her from a Russian prison, where she had spent more than a year following her February 2024 arrest in Russia on the kind of flimsy charges that tyrannical regimes so often bring against innocent victims.

“Mr. Trump, I’m so, so grateful for you to bring me home and for American government,” she said.

Then, she acknowledged the privilege of living in the greatest country in the history of the world.

“And, I never felt more blessed to be American,” she added. “And I’m so, so happy to get home. Thank you.”

Ksenia Karelina just landed back home in America—the 45th U.S. citizen freed by President Donald J. Trump in just 9 weeks.

“Mr. Trump, I’m so, so grateful for you to bring me home and for American government… I never felt more blessed to be American… Thank you.” 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/SOwbIJDd2A

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 11, 2025

Thursday on X, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Karelina would make her way home soon.

“American Ksenia Karelina is on a plane back home to the United States,” Rubio wrote.

“She was wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year and President Trump secured her release. @POTUS will continue to work for the release of ALL Americans,” he added.

American Ksenia Karelina is on a plane back home to the United States.

She was wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year and President Trump secured her release. @POTUS will continue to work for the release of ALL Americans.

— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) April 10, 2025

Indeed, Karelina’s wrongful detainment should remind all Americans of our good fortune.

According to NBC News, Russian authorities arrested the former ballerina in February 2024. On Feb. 24, 2022 — the day Russian forces invaded neighboring Ukraine — Karelina made a $51.80 donation to a charity that provided aid to Ukraine.

For that “crime” of “high treason,” she received a 12-year sentence in a Russian penal colony.

Russian authorities freed her in exchange for Russian national Arthur Petrov.

Happily, Karelina’s safe return allows one to indulge in a few broader reflections.

First, the Trump White House indicated that in only nine weeks the president has now freed 45 American prisoners abroad. For comparison’s sake, according to Newsweek, former President Joe Biden had freed “more than 70 Americans” by August 2024.

Second, one senses that the vast majority Americans who have long opposed the perpetual financing of Ukraine’s war effort — at least the ones to whom this writer has listened and spoken — never harbored any illusions about the tyrannical nature of the Russian regime under President Vladimir Putin.

With that in mind, one also marvels at the charge of “high treason.” An American citizen, of course, cannot commit treason against another nation. But Europeans have never seen things quite that way. On that continent, where commitment to blood and soil dictated allegiances for centuries, one could not simply revoke one’s status and join another political community.

Finally, one feels profound gratitude to God for bringing the former ballerina safely home.

According to NBC, Karelina’s fiancé, Chris van Heerden, greeted her on the tarmac. And that means that the healing of two people victimized by profound injustice may now begin.

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