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Drunk Texting Leads to Jail for Woman Accused of Hiding Links to Russian Intelligence
Nomma Zarubina, who is charged with lying about her alleged contacts with Russian intelligence, was jailed after failing to heed warnings against drunk texting an FBI agent.
A Russian woman accused of lying to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation about alleged Russian intelligence contacts was sent to jail this week after she repeatedly sent drunken texts to one of the bureau’s agents.
Nomma Zarubina, 34, had her bail revoked and was ordered into pre-trial detention in an emergency hearing late on December 2, because she continued to harass an FBI agent on the case, despite a judge’s warning.
“The audacity demonstrated by this latest violation of the defendant’s bail conditions, while a bail hearing is pending, is extraordinary,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton wrote in calling for the hearing. “It confirms that the defendant will continue her illegal efforts to harass and influence Case-Agent 1 unless and until she is detained.”
Zarubina was indicted in a U.S. federal court last year for allegedly lying to the FBI about her contact with an officer from Russia’s intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service (FSB). She was later charged with transporting women for prostitution.
In July, prosecutors accused her of harassing an FBI agent involved in her case with text messages that suggested romantic entanglement, fear of Russian surveillance, and conspiratorial threats.
She avoided pre-trial detention and was ordered to undergo mental health counseling. But the behavior soon resumed, with Zarubina sending more than 50 texts that were alternately romantic and threatening to an FBI case agent. That prompted an emergency hearing in September in which her federally-appointed defense lawyer argued she needed treatment for excessive alcohol consumption.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the Southern District of New York spared Zarubina detention in that second pre-trial violation, ordering alcohol abuse treatment. The judge warned it was a last chance for Zarubina, who is slated to begin a jury trial next June.
Prosecutors filed more complaints to the judge in November and called for an emergency hearing, saying Zarubina had sent dozens more texts.
Screenshots of her texts show she referred to the FBI agent as her love and later grew angry and texted, “You are a Bitch.” The screenshots also showed Zarubina asking if the agent would report her, and seemed to complain her case was getting less attention than that of Russian agent Maria Butina.
Butina, now a Russian legislator and television personality, achieved notoriety when she was discovered to be an unregistered agent of Russia who befriended leaders of the National Rifle Association. She pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy charges and served time in prison before being deported from the U.S.
In their original filings, prosecutors alleged Zarubina operated under the code name “Alyssa” and had lied about contact with an FSB officer in Russia. In April 2025, a grand jury added charges accusing her of transporting women across state lines for prostitution, and of lying on her U.S. citizenship application.
Zarubina’s case has also drawn attention for her reported link to Elena Branson, a dual U.S.-Russian citizen indicted in 2022 for acting as an unregistered foreign agent. Branson, who had fled the U.S. by the time charges were announced, opened the Russian Center New York and oversaw its “I Love Russia” campaign — an effort prosecutors alleged was Kremlin-backed propaganda. Branson’s case remains open.
On her LinkedIn page, Zarubina listed her time at Branson’s center, and with Sail of Hope, an organization affiliated with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission.