Meet 'decolonization' expert Nomma Zarubina.
FSB codename "Alyssa"
All over the Washington DC think tank circuit. Had a knack for meeting US officials. Even attended some protests against Russia.
Just last week she spoke at an event on Parliament Hill in #Canada.
She's just been charged by the #FBI for lying about taking direction from the FSB. 1/
2/ Nomma Zarubina was collecting photos with current & former officials like Pokemon.
Wearing some NGO bona-fides, she also shows up at a lot of events with prominent exiles from #Russia & figures from #Ukraine.
She also got into all sorts of meetings...
3/ Zarubina's story follows from investigation of Elena Branson.
Branson fled to #Russia in 2020 after the Russian Center New York was raided). Branson got a lot of charges, including acting as an illegal agent.
Zarubina worked for the RCNY & was close to Branson..
Branson case: justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/d…
4/ Zarubina's charges stem from the FBI allegation that she repeatedly lied about her interactions with Russia's FSB.
Zarubina, says the FBI, would ultimately acknowledge extensive contacts with Russian security services, even signing an agreement.
Allegedly, an FSB officer covertly instructed her to meet certain people & gather information about them...
5/ I can't get over the FSB's rebranding of espionage as "network marketing"
6/ The funny thing about Zarubina's social media is that if you go way back, it's red flags all over.
Before her flurry of posts showing attendance at DC events & meetups with opposition figures...
You have a stratum of 100s of thirst traps & fancy lifestyle posing.
Excavate deeper & you get things like this...
7/ Harm here goes beyond the informed-upon.
Seeds mistrust within opposition & exile communities she sought to infiltrate...
& creates credibility hurdles for the majority of very legit people in those communities doing the hard work of opposing Putin.
8/ Folks have spotted that Zarubina even got a book inscribed by Bill Burns in 2019.
Today, he's the @CIA director.
Anybody could have done it.
But it's reminder that the think tank event / book signing / alumni club circuit is a target-rich environment.
9. My colleagues @citizenlab just dropped a massive report looking at gender & digital transnational #repression.👇
Cases like Zarubina are a reminder: surveillance underpinning repression across borders can take many forms, including infiltration.
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