US PROSECUTORS DROP SMUGGLING CHARGES AGAINST HARVARD SCIENTIST

Federal prosecutors in Boston have dropped all criminal charges against Kseniia Petrova, a Harvard Medical School researcher accused of smuggling frog embryos into the United States. US District Judge Leo Sorokin granted the dismissal without a hearing. Prosecutors called her vindictive-prosecution claim meritless but said pursuing the case further would divert resources from more pressing matters. William Fick, her lawyer, said Petrova had shown tremendous courage and that her ordeal would soon end. A spokesperson for US Attorney Leah Foley declined to comment.

Petrova was stopped by customs officers at Logan Airport in Boston after a trip to France, where she had visited a laboratory handling frog embryos. Accounts differ over the date of her detention, citing either February or March 2025. Officials said her bag was flagged for inspection, revealing samples she said her supervisor had asked her to bring back for cancer research. She was charged with smuggling and making false statements, and pleaded not guilty. Her visa was revoked, and she was held in Louisiana before a Vermont judge ruled in April that a customs officer had improperly cancelled it.

Petrova's lawyers said the case was retaliation for her immigration challenge and part of wider action by Donald Trump's administration against researchers, universities and Harvard. She was released on bail, with accounts differing over whether this occurred in May or June. Petrova had fled Russia after being arrested for protesting against the invasion of Ukraine, and colleagues at Harvard described her research talents as "spectacular." She feared a conviction could lead to deportation to Russia, where she said she could face imprisonment. Her case became one of several immigration-related arrests involving academics since Trump returned to office.