She came from Russia with nothing but love.
When Russian-American ballerina Ksenia Karelina stepped off an airplane in Maryland Thursday after 15 months in a grim Russian prison — she landed in the waiting arms of her overjoyed but anxious fiancé, champion boxer Chris Van Heerden.
“I was so confused, overwhelmed and nervous,” Van Heerden told The Post Saturday about waiting on the tarmac for her arrival.
“I haven’t been this nervous since I fought for a world title. I haven’t seen Ksenia in 15 months so in my head I am creating all these images of what she might look like after all that time in prison. I didn’t want to have a shocked expression on my face and make her feel bad.
“People started coming out one by one and when she came around the corner, I saw her and she saw me. I saw her smile, I saw my Ksenia. I was so relieved. When she hugged me, that was it. The nerves were gone.
“I whispered in her ear, I said “It’s over,” Van Heerden recalled.
“She didn’t say anything. I think it was all so unreal to her. I said, ‘I love you’ and she said, ‘I love you too.’”
The dual-citizen dancer and spa worker was accused of treason against the Russian government when she donated $51 to a charity that allegedly supported Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022 — the day Russia invaded its neighbor. She was sentenced to 12 years in a penal colony.
The US secured Karelina’s return in exchange for Russian German Arthur Petrov, who was arrested in Cyprus in August 2023 at the request of the US on charges of smuggling sensitive microelectronics to Russia. He was extradited to the States a year later.
“It all happened so fast,” Van Heerden told The Post about Karelina’s sudden release.
Karelina was somewhat in shock and had virtually no sleep for 48 hours when she arrived in the US. She is now in a military hospital in San Antonio and will likely remain there for the next seven to 10 days while she is evaluated and given a soft reentry.
Van Heerden was able to be with alone with her for the first time at the facility. They lay in bed together for two hours, he said.
“It was just me and her and it started a little awkward with some small talk,” he said. “I just stayed quiet and let her talk and before I knew it she was in storytelling mode. I put my hand on her arm . . . and I feel the muscles and I said, ‘Wow baby you’re so strong.’
“Her smile lit up and she flexed on me . . . I almost cried.”
Karelina, who is an esthetician, had only a couple of immediate requests.
“Ice cream. She wanted ice cream. She wanted tweezers so ‘I can pluck my eyebrows’ and a heel scraper.”
The couple is eager to meet and thank President Trump.
“Ksenia made it clear that she would love to shake his hand,” Van Heerden said.
“We really need to thank him personally. When the time’s right, she’d love to meet him and I would love to shake his hand for bringing back the love of my life. And I’m not into politics.
“I was begging the Biden administration for a whole year to bring Ksenia back. About seven months I realized that’s not going to happen. they’re not going to do it for me. I had faith and I truly believed when President Trump came into power, he could do it and he did it.”
Van Heerden said Karelina has been especially overcome by Americans’ warm reception.
“She is so kind and so loving . . . She was in a prison where people are yelling and fighting. She didn’t get a hug in prison and she was so overwhelmed with how nice people are [stateside].”
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