UFC CEO Dana White advised NPR’s Steve Inskeep in a Could 2026 interview that he used his private relationship with President Donald Trump to safe the discharge of a girl held in a Russian penal colony. The case facilities on Ksenia Karelina, a twin Russian-American citizen who was sentenced to 12 years in jail over a $51.80 charitable donation.
Dana White reveals how he rescued lady from Russian jail in telephone name to President Trump
This interview was performed as a part of NPR’s Newsmaker video podcast at Newark’s Prudential Middle on the eve of the UFC occasion. As Mr. Inskeep and Mr. White mentioned immigration coverage beneath the Trump administration, the dialog turned to what Mr. White was secretly doing behind the scenes months earlier.
“There was a lady who was the spouse of a combatant. She was Russian, however she had American citizenship. She went again to see her household in Russia, and in the course of the evening the navy kicked down her door and arrested her. They came upon she had donated $15 to Ukraine, and she or he was arrested and put in a Russian jail. President Trump, I known as him, and he acquired her launched.”
When Mr. Inskeep requested how Mr. Trump dealt with it, Mr. White merely replied: “I feel he known as President Putin.”
Who’s Ksenia Karelina?
The lady White was referring to was Ksenia Karelina, a 34-year-old Russian-American. She lived in Los Angeles, labored as an esthetician managing a spa in Beverly Hills, and likewise skilled as an beginner ballerina. Her boyfriend on the time, Chris Van Heerden, was a South African skilled boxer and former IBO welterweight champion who fought on the prime degree of the game.
Karelina flew to Russia in early January 2024 to go to her 90-year-old grandmother and different members of the family in Yekaterinburg. She has been a U.S. citizen since 2021 and didn’t consider the journey posed any dangers. Van Heerden had deliberate to suggest to his girlfriend upon his return, however purchased the ticket himself on her birthday in December.
When Karelina landed in Yekaterinburg on January 17, 2024, Russian customs officers searched her cell phone on the airport. They discovered information of Venmo sending $51.80 to a New York-based nonprofit known as Razom for Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the primary day of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Razom describes itself as a humanitarian assist group helping Ukrainian civilians. He denied Russia’s claims that it financed arms and ammunition.
Karelina was initially detained on a minor cost of “petty hooliganism”, permitting Russian authorities to carry her whereas they ready a bigger case. She was formally charged with excessive treason beneath Article 275 of the Russian Felony Code, which carried a sentence of 12 years to life in jail.
Her trial started on June 20, 2024, and she or he pleaded responsible on August 7, along with her lawyer advising her that she may obtain a decreased sentence if she plead responsible. On August 15, 2024, Choose Andrei Mineev, the identical choose who sentenced Wall Avenue Journal reporter Evan Gershkovitch, sentenced her to 12 years in a normal regime penal colony. She was detained for 439 days earlier than being launched.
Van Heerden spent greater than a 12 months elevating consciousness of Karelina and pushing for her launch, together with appearances in nationwide media. Efforts beneath the earlier US administration had been in useless. The chain of occasions that led to her freedom started throughout a UFC bout in Sydney, Australia.
Previous to his NPR interview, White described that second in a postgame press convention in Kansas Metropolis in April 2025:
“After I was in Sydney, Australia, at a sport, I acquired a name from a pal and requested if I may come to his lodge room and discuss to him. I assume he was attempting to get me to let him go, however I assume he could not do this. So he requested me if I may discuss to Trump, and I mentioned, ‘In fact.’ So I known as him and he mentioned, ‘Sure, let me.’ See what I can do. And actually in 3 weeks he kicked her out. ” (Ht BJP Pen)
On April 10, 2025, Karelina was launched as a part of a prisoner alternate brokered in Abu Dhabi, with the United Arab Emirates performing as an middleman.
At a Cupboard assembly that day, President Trump publicly acknowledged White’s function.
“Dana White known as me and mentioned she was buddies or associated to the UFC or one of many fighters. Dana is a good particular person and she or he mentioned this with President Putin and so they got here to an settlement. They launched the younger ballerina and she or he’s out now.”
White was modest about his function within the general episode, saying:
“She FaceTimed me two days in the past. What an extremely sort and constructive particular person she is. President Trump and President Putin, give them credit score for bringing her out…I simply known as her.”
