US court drops criminal case against Russian scientist Kseniia Petrova, accused of smuggling frog embryos

A federal judge in the United States has dismissed the criminal case against Kseniia Petrova, a Russian scientist who worked at Harvard Medical School.Petrova was accused of smuggling after she failed to declare frog embryos in her suitcase when she returned to the United States from France in February 2025. She was carrying the samples at her academic adviser’s request.The day before, the U.S. Justice Department filed a motion asking the court to drop the case. A district judge in Massachusetts issued the ruling.During the investigation into Petrova’s case, immigration authorities did not rule out deporting her to Russia. She said she could face danger there because she had openly spoken out against the war.During President Donald Trump’s second term, U.S. authorities have repeatedly deported Russian citizens. After returning to Russia, some of them have received prison sentences.At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.