A Federal Judge of Vermont ruled in favor of a Harvard Russian scientist who was detained by ice and accused of smuggling goods in the United States on Wednesday.
Kseniia Petrova, 31, was first detained by ice before being transferred to criminal custody earlier this month. Wednesday’s ruling guarantees that if he is granted bail and he is released to his criminal audience next week, the ICE cannot be detained once again.
The administration of President Donald Trump seeks to deport Petrova to Russia again after his arrest at Boston Logan Airport in February. She has worked as a researcher at Harvard Medical School for more than two years, and her schoolmates testified in her defense on Wednesday.
Authorities accused of Petrova of smuggling biological materials after the TSA at the airport allegedly found embryos of frogs and embryonic samples in the luggage.
Russian scientist of Harvard Medical School detained by ice at Boston Airport
This undated photo provided by Polina Pugacheva in April 2025 shows Kseniia Petrova, a scientist of the Russian origin who was a researcher at Harvard University. (Polina Pugacheva via AP, File)
The judge determined on Wednesday that Petrova is not a risk of flight and is not a danger to the community. Its criminal bail audience will take place next week in Massachusetts.
The judge also said that Petrova’s work in Harvard has benefited the United States, as his team focuses on cancer research.
It Said the United States lawyer That Petrova allegedly denied having the biological material at first, but then admitted that he would carry it.
Prosecutors also claim that Petrova’s text messages show that he was aware that he needed a permission to bring embryos of frogs snatched and embryonic samples that they were allegedly found in luggage. In an exchange of text messages quoted by the office, Petrova was asked if he had a plan to incorporate biological material in the United States, and he allegedly responded by saying, “There is no plan yet. I will not be able to swallow them.”
Kseniia Petrova, a bioinformation at the Kirschner laboratory, again brought frog embryos at the request of a teacher in a French laboratory Harvard, collaborating, his lawyer Gregory Romanovsky confirmed to Fox News. (Kseniia Petrova’s lawyer, Gregory Romanovsky)
Gregory Romanovsky, a lawyer representing Petrova, argues that customs experts confirmed that his client “did not need a permission to bring his scientific samples that were not lived that are not considered biological material according to the US customs law.”
Said Petrova in a recent New York Times Op-Ed Returning to the United States after vacation in Paris when she was detained by ice in February. He also expressed his fear of being arrested in Russia if he deported, as he has been critical of the war in Ukraine.
Kseniia Petrova, a bioinformaticist at the Kirschner laboratory, again brought frog embryos at the request of a teacher in a French laboratory Harvard. (Facebook)
While she admitted to the option that she did not fill out a customs form on frog embryos in luggage, she believed it would be a fine or a notice, not a detention.
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“At Logan International Airport, I did not complete a customs statement for frog embryos (for our laboratory research) to my luggage. They tell me that I would normally have a notice or a fine. Instead, my visa was revoked and they sent me to a Louisiana arrest center,” said Petrova.
Rachel Wolf of Fox News contributed to this report.
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