A Russian woman who used her sexual wiles to spy for Moscow is facing up to five years in a US prison after pleading guilty to lying to the FBI. Nomma Zarubina, 35, known as 'Alyssa' to her Russian handlers, admitted to false statements and naturalization fraud.
According to US prosecutors, Zarubina attended seminars and forums to identify potentially helpful contacts among academics, foreign policy experts, and US government officials. She then passed their details to the FSB, Russia's domestic intelligence service, so the agency could invite them to Russia and 'convert' them to the 'Russian way of thinking'.
Zarubina's arrest came after she sent a series of flirtatious and threatening texts to an FBI agent. 'Catch me baby,' she wrote at 4.17am, followed by 'So many spies' and 'I am sooooo bad'. Despite being warned by a judge, she continued texting the agent 65 times in one night, including 'I love you' and later calling him a 'bitch'.
Zarubina is the latest in a line of Russian women accused of using their looks for espionage, including Maria Butina and Anna Chapman. Butina, now a Russian legislator, befriended NRA leaders, while Chapman, returned to Russia in a prisoner exchange, wrote in her memoir: 'I knew the effect I had on men.'
