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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Edward Helmore in New York

The Russian honeytrap: alleged spy for Moscow faces five years in US prison

two flags flutter in the snow
A Russian flag flies next to the US embassy building in Moscow on 30 November 2023. Photograph: Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty Images

Nomma Zarubina, 35, now sits in a New York jail awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty last week to charges that she lied to the FBI about her contacts with the FSB, Russia’s biggest domestic intelligence service.

But, in a playbook that comes straight from the cold war, the striking-looking Zarubina – known as “Alyssa” to her Russian handlers – was tasked with meeting prominent Americans in order to lure them into the orbit of Moscow intelligence.

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