The US Department of Justice has charged Russian citizen Nomma Zarubina, who collaborated with decolonial movements of the nations of the Russian Federation abroad, with providing false information. This is what lawyer Igor Slabykh writes, citing the indictment.
According to the FBI, Zarubina was recruited in 2020 and given the FSB agent name “Alisa.” She was tasked with developing a network of contacts among Russian journalists, professors, and experts in the United States and “working on” them to convince them of the correctness of the Russian authorities’ position. The indictment states that Zarubina was assisted by the head of the Coordinating Council of Russian Compatriots in the United States, Elena Branson, who is accused by the US authorities of failing to register as a foreign agent: she allegedly communicated with American officials, receiving remuneration from the Russian authorities for this.
The case file does not specify how exactly the FBI established the fact of Zarubina’s cooperation with the FSB. The expert was detained in New York on 21 November and released on bail of $25,000.
Russian America for Democracy in Russia, an organization that unites anti-war members of the Russian diaspora in America, said Zarubina had contacted representatives of the organization, attended its events, and communicated with opposition activists in exile. Zarubina also spoke as an expert at the “decolonial forums” of the “Free Peoples of Post-Russia” and attended events involving opposition figure Leonid Volkov.
Zarubina stated on Facebook that she is “not hiding or running away” and asked “not to rely on post-truth.” On social media, Zarubina positions herself as a former representative of an NGO to the UN. On the MGIMO website, she is designated as a representative of the charity organization for helping people with disabilities, “Sail of Hope,” in the UN Economic and Social Council.
- Earlier today it became known that a court in Poland arrested the wife of former Navalny and Open Russia campaign staff member Igor Rogov, Irina, in a case of espionage and aiding in an attempt to commit a crime. Rogov himself has been under arrest since early August.
- He is accused of preparing an explosion – according to acquaintances, during a trip to Prague, he could have received a “parcel from Ukrainian volunteers” with explosives but did not know what was inside. During interrogations, one of the witnesses was asked about Rogov’s connections with the FSB.
