America will bring her back to me,’ says boyfriend of US-Russian citizen arrested for treason

dual US-Russian citizen Ksenia Karelina boarded a flight from Istanbul to Russia in January, the last thing on her mind was that she would find herself behind bars weeks later on treason charges, her boyfriend told CNN on Wednesday.

Karelina “had no fear, she was so proud to be going home… she’s so proud of Russia,” Chris Van Heerden said, adding that the 33-year-old was excited to see her elderly grandparents in her hometown of Yekaterinburg. “She did not have a worry in the world,” he said in an interview with Brianna Keilar on OutFront.

It had been several years since the Los Angeles resident had returned to Russia, he said, which is why he bought her a ticket to Russia as she was feeling homesick. The pair had been on a four-day holiday to Istanbul. She went on to Russia, while he returned to California - and that’s when he discovered she had been detained. At first, he said, her detention was only brief. Russian authorities took her cell phone then released her and she was able to see her family and contact him.