AP PHOTOS: In this Indian city, locals patrol the beaches at night to protect endangered sea turtles

CHENNAI, India (AP) — For nearly four decades, residents in southern India's coastal city of Chennai have patrolled moonlit beaches at night trying to protect sea turtles and their hatchlings that for millennia have nested along these shores.

Hungry dogs, locals looking for a snack, and disorienting lights are among the hazards facing the olive ridley turtles and their eggs, which can take up to 60 days to hatch. Many turtles are caught offshore in fishing nets, which this year alone have killed hundreds of them in the area.

Nonetheless, local residents have collected and helped to protect more than 260,000 turtle eggs this year in Tamil Nadu state, whose capital is Chennai.

Patrollers scan the beaches looking for turtles nesting or small sand mounds that might indicate eggs are buried underneath. When they find a cache of eggs, they transport them to a protected area and rebury them at the same depth as they were initially found. This is crucial since temperatures affect what sex the turtles will be. Researchers say rising temperatures from human-caused planet warming are resulting in fewer male turtles being born.

“We cover a lot of ground, at least 30 kilometers (18 miles), by breaking into smaller groups and each group walking seven or eight kilometers,” said a volunteer named Melvin, who goes only by his first name and has been working with turtle conservation groups for several years.

The patrols begin around midnight each day during the turtle nesting season, which runs from December to April.

The Associated Press saw one volunteer dig carefully at a possible nesting site until his hand was elbow-deep in the sand, where he found the eggs. He and other volunteers carefully brought the eggs out, counting a total of 137 of them. They were placed in a cloth bag and brought to the safe haven of a nearby hatchery.

“I come during my summer holidays to Chennai just to do this,” said Yajur Karthik, an 11-year-old volunteer from nearby Bengaluru city who has been coming for the last two years to help protect the turtles.

Karthik said he feels it's important to help conserve the turtles given the growing number of challenges these ancient creatures face.

“Only one in a thousand turtles survives,” he said.

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An endangered olive ridley turtle hatchling crawls into the sea after it was released by forest officials on Elliot's Beach in Chennai, India, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A volunteer guides endangered olive ridley turtle hatchlings toward the sea on Elliot's Beach in Chennai, India, Friday, March 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

An endangered olive ridley turtle hatchling crawls toward the sea after it is released by forest officials on Elliot's Beach in Chennai, India, Friday, March 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

Endangered olive ridley turtle hatchlings crawl into the sea after they were released by forest officials on Elliot's Beach in Chennai, India, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

Endangered olive ridley turtle hatchlings crawl toward the sea after they are released by forest officials on Elliot's Beach in Chennai, India, Friday, March 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

An endangered olive ridley turtle hatchling crawls toward the sea after it is released by forest officials on Elliot's Beach in Chennai, India, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

Endangered olive ridley turtle hatchlings crawl toward the sea after they are released by forest officials on Elliot's Beach in Chennai, India, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

Forest officials show olive ridley turtle hatchlings to visitors before releasing them into the sea at Elliot's Beach in Chennai, India, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A volunteer holds a olive ridley turtle hatchling on Elliot's Beach in Chennai, India, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A young olive ridley turtle crawls out of an egg shell at a hatching center on Elliot's Beach in Chennai, India, Monday, March 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A young olive ridley turtle crawls out at a hatching center on Elliot's Beach in Chennai, India, Monday, March 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

Markers are placed where the olive ridley sea turtle eggs are buried in sand for hatching on Elliot's Beach in Chennai, India, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A volunteer collects broken egg shells at a hatchery for the olive ridley sea turtles on Elliot's Beach in Chennai, India, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

Visitors look for the olive ridley sea turtles through a bamboo fence at a hatchery on Elliot's Beach in Chennai, India, Friday, March 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A crow flies over a hatchery for the olive ridley sea turtles on Elliot's Beach in Chennai, India, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A stray dog tries to feed on the carcass of an endangered olive ridley turtle on Marina Beach in Chennai, India, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A forest official and a volunteer carry olive ridley sea turtle eggs collected on Marina Beach to a hatching center, in Chennai, India, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

Forest officials and volunteers look at a carcass of an endangered olive ridley turtle on Marina Beach in Chennai, India, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A forest official carries olive ridley sea turtle eggs collected on Marina Beach to be taken to a hatching center, in Chennai, India, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A forest official counts olive ridley sea turtle eggs collected on Marina Beach in Chennai, India, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A forest official collects olive ridley sea turtle eggs on Marina Beach in Chennai, India, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A forest official searches for olive ridley sea turtle eggs on Marina Beach in Chennai, India, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A forest official marks an area holding olive ridley sea turtle eggs on Marina Beach in Chennai, India, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A forest official searches for olive ridley sea turtle eggs on Marina Beach in Chennai, India, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A forest official walks with volunteers to search for olive ridley sea turtle eggs on Marina Beach in Chennai, India, Thursday, March 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Russian-American woman freed by Moscow arrived back in the United States late Thursday as part of a prisoner swap completed as the two countries aim to repair ties.

A plane carrying Ksenia Karelina landed around 11 p.m. EDT at Joint Base Andrews, where she was greeted by her fiancé. Morgan Ortagus, President Donald Trump's deputy special envoy to the Middle East, presented her with a bouquet. She was released earlier in the day in exchange for a Russian-German man who'd been jailed in the U.S. on smuggling charges.

Karelina was arrested in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg in February 2024 and convicted of treason on charges stemming from a donation of about $52 to a charity aiding Ukraine. U.S. authorities have called the case “absolutely ludicrous.”

“They released the young ballerina and she is now out, and that was good. So we appreciate that,” President Donald Trump said at a Cabinet meeting Thursday. He said the release followed conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Arthur Petrov was released as part of the swap in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, according to the Federal Security Service, or FSB, Russia's main security and counterintelligence agency. Petrov was arrested in Cyprus in August 2023 at the request of the U.S. on charges of smuggling sensitive microelectronics to Russia and extradited to the U.S. a year later.

Karelina was among a growing number of Americans arrested in Russia in recent years as tensions between Moscow and Washington spiked over the war in Ukraine. Her release is the latest in a series of high-profile prisoner exchanges Russia and the U.S. carried out in the last three years — and the second since Trump took office and reversed Washington's policy of isolating Russia in an effort to end the war in Ukraine.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe hailed “the CIA officers who worked tirelessly to support this effort.” The CIA also emphasized that “the exchange shows the importance of keeping lines of communication open with Russia, despite the deep challenges in our bilateral relationship.”

Meanwhile, Russian and U.S. diplomats met in Istanbul for a second round of talks on normalizing embassies' work, following the first such meeting in February. The State Department said the delegations “exchanged notes to finalize an understanding to ensure the stability of diplomatic banking for Russian and U.S. bilateral missions.”

It said the U.S. reiterated its concerns about the Russian ban on hiring of local staff, “the key impediment to maintaining for stable and sustainable staffing levels at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow."

Alexander Darchiyev, Russia’s ambassador to Washington, who led Moscow’s delegation in the talks, praised their “positive atmosphere” and noted the parties agreed to continue discussions to facilitate diplomats’ travel. He added that the Russian side also pushed for a quick return of its diplomatic property seized by U.S. authorities.

In February, Russia released American teacher Marc Fogel, imprisoned on drug charges, in a swap that the White House described as part of a diplomatic thaw that could advance peace negotiations. That same month, Russia released another American just days after arresting him on drug smuggling charges.

Karelina, a former ballet dancer also identified in some media as Ksenia Khavana, lived in Maryland before moving to Los Angeles. She was arrested when she returned to Russia to visit her family last year.

The FSB accused her of “proactively" collecting money for a Ukrainian organization that was supplying gear to Kyiv's forces. The First Department, a Russian rights group, said the charges stemmed from a $51.80 donation to a U.S. charity aiding Ukraine.

“I am overjoyed to hear that the love of my life, Ksenia Karelina is on her way home from wrongful detention in Russia,” Karelina’s fiancé, professional boxer Chris van Heerden, said in a statement. “She has endured a nightmare for 15 months and I cannot wait to hold her. Our dog, Boots, is also eagerly awaiting her return.”

He thanked Trump and his envoys, as well as prominent public figures who had championed her case, including Dana White, a Trump friend and CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Trump also credited White, too, saying the UFC boss had called him about the case.

White House national security adviser Mike Waltz said on X, “President Trump and his administration continue to work around the clock to ensure Americans detained abroad are returned home to their families.”

The exchange was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

The United Arab Emirates' state-run WAM news agency released photos of Karelina boarding a plane and one of her standing next to Yousef al-Otaiba, the UAE’s ambassador to the U.S.

The FSB, which said Putin had pardoned Karelina before the swap, released a video showing her being escorted to a plane somewhere in Russia. The footage then featured what appeared to be the scene of exchange at the Abu Dhabi airport, with Petrov walking off a plane and shaking hands with Russian officials on the tarmac.

The video showed Petrov undergoing medical checkups on a flight to Russia. “I have no particular complaints, just a bit tired,” he said.

Another video released by the FSB later in the day showed him walking off a plane after arriving in Russia.

Petrov was accused by the U.S. Justice Department of involvement in a scheme to procure microelectronics subject to U.S. export controls on behalf of a Russia-based supplier of critical components for the country's weapons industries. He was facing a 20-year prison term in the U.S.

Abu Dhabi was the scene of another high-profile prisoner swap between Russia and the United States. In December 2022, American basketball star Brittney Griner was traded for the notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

The UAE has been a mediator in prisoner swaps between Russia and Ukraine, while the skyscraper-studded city of Dubai has become home to many Russians and Ukrainians who fled there after the start of Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Litvinova reported from Tallinn, Estonia. Associated Press writer Eric Tucker in Washington contributed.

Ksenia Karelina and her fiancé, professional boxer Chris van Heerden, talk with Morgan Ortagus, deputy special presidential envoy to the Middle East, Thursday, April 10, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Ksenia Karelina arrives Thursday, April 10, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Ksenia Karelina greets her fiancé, professional boxer Chris van Heerden, as she arrives Thursday, April 10, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

FILE – Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who was exchanged for U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner, speaks to the media at an opening for an exhibition of his artworks at the Mosfilm studio in Moscow, Russia, March 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

FILE - Basketball player Brittney Griner listens to her verdict while standing in a cage in a courtroom in Khimki, outside Moscow, Russia, Aug. 4, 2022. (Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool Photo via AP, File)

FILE - President Donald Trump greets Marc Fogel on the South Lawn at the White House, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

FILE - Ksenia Karelina sits in a glass cage in a court room in Yekaterinburg, Russia, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - Ksenia Karelina speaks with her lawyer while standing in a glass cage in a court room in Yekaterinburg, Russia, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo, File)

This photo released by the state-run WAM news agency shows Yousef al-Otaiba, the UAE ambassador to the U.S., left, standing next to U.S.-Russian dual national Ksenia Karelina after her release at an airport in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (WAM via AP)

This photo released by the state-run WAM news agency shows U.S.-Russian dual national Ksenia Karelina getting on a private jet after her release at an airport in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (WAM via AP)

FILE - Ksenia Karelina, also known as Khavana sits in a glass cage in a court room in Yekaterinburg, Russia, Thursday, June 20, 2024. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - Ksenia Karelina, also known as Khavana sits in a glass cage in a court room in Yekaterinburg, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024.(AP Photo/File)