A Russian woman who pleaded guilty to lying about her contacts with Russia's main intelligence agency -- and was later accused of sending drunken harassing messages to the FBI -- was set to be sentenced in a Manhattan federal court.US prosecutors have asked that Nomma Zarubina be sentenced to at least 18 months in prison when US Judge Laura Swain issues her final decision on June 11. Zarubina's defense lawyers have requested she receive no more additional time in custody.
Zarubina's case had drawn attention as the latest example of what US authorities have asserted is a deliberate campaign -- usually overseen by Russia's Federal Security Service, known as the FSB -- to encourage Russians, often women, to befriend people in Western professional and social networks with the aim of influencing public opinion or otherwise.A native of the Siberian city of Tomsk, Zarubina began traveling to the United States in the early 2010s, building a profile as an expert or activist on Russian regional politics and other subjects. She worked closely for a Russian-American woman named Elena Branson, who oversaw an organization called the Russian Center New York.The FBI began questioning Zarubina in October 2020, not long after raiding Branson's Manhattan apartment and seizing dozens of computers, phones, and other electronic devices. Branson, who fled to Russia, was charged 18 months later with being an unregistered foreign agent.
