US federal prosecutors have moved to drop criminal charges against Kseniia Petrova, a Russian-born scientist and researcher at Harvard Medical School, who faced allegations of smuggling frog embryos into the United States.
Prosecutors in Boston submitted a court filing on Tuesday, November 3, seeking dismissal of the charges after a federal judge allowed Petrova to obtain government evidence supporting her claim of selective and retaliatory prosecution.
Authorities had accused Petrova of bringing undeclared frog embryos into the country after returning from France in February 2025. Customs officials discovered the biological samples in her checked luggage at Boston Logan International Airport.
Petrova maintained that she had brought the samples at her supervisor’s request for scientific experiments. She pleaded not guilty to smuggling and providing false statements and was released on bail in June 2025.
Her lawyers argued that the Trump administration targeted her after she challenged immigration proceedings and amid broader government pressure on researchers and Harvard University.
Prosecutors described her claims as meritless but said continuing the case would divert significant resources from more substantial federal interests.
A federal judge had previously ruled that authorities unlawfully cancelled Petrova’s research visa.
Her lawyer welcomed the decision, expressing relief that her prolonged legal ordeal was approaching an end.
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