Associate Professor from Moscow State University Wanted by FBI for Suspected Recruitments for FSB

FBI USA put on the wanted list Natalya Burlinova, associate professor at Moscow State University and former producer of the radio station “Moscow Speaks”. She is suspected of recruiting Americans on the instructions of the FSB of the Russian Federation.

The FBI’s wanted notice states: “Natalya Burlinova is wanted on suspicion of acting as an illegal agent for a foreign government, Russia, on United States soil. Burlinova is suspected to have colluded with a Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) ) to recruit U.S. citizens to travel to Moscow to participate in the “Meet Russia” program run by her Public Creative Diplomacy Initiative (PICREADI), an FSB agent who is suspected to have provided funding for Burlinova and other support for her efforts to In turn, Burlinova provided the FSB officer with information about the recruited US citizens, including their resumes, passport details, photographs and analysis of their views on Russia.In addition, Burlinova identified for further cooperation a list of specific US citizens who expressed a positive attitude towards Russia During a recruiting trip to the US in the fall of 2018, Burlinova met with US citizens at various US universities and research institutes and provided the FSB officer with photographs of her meetings.

Earlier, the US Department of Justice reported that Burlinova violated the local law on foreign agents because she did not notify the authorities about the financing of her activities by the Russian security service. A Columbia court on April 17 issued a federal warrant for her arrest. Natalya Burlinova herself denies the accusations against her.