MOSCOW, September 16. /TASS/. The Supreme Court of Russia’s northwestern Komi Republic has sentenced Russian-Canadian citizen Nikolay Zyuzev to seven years in a penal colony for developing a project financed by foreign grants aimed against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia, the Federal Security Service’s (FSB) Public Relations Center reported.
"The Supreme Court of the Komi Republic has convicted Nikolay Fedoseyevich Zyuzev, a citizen of Russia and Canada, of high treason in the form of providing other assistance to a foreign state, a foreign organization and their representatives in activities aimed against Russia’s security. By the court’s decision, he has been sentenced to 7 years in a strict-regime penal colony, with a one-year restriction of freedom," the Public Relations Center said.
According to the FSB, in February 2022 Zyuzev created and launched a project spanning 12 areas, "including training abroad leaders of national liberation movements of Russia’s small-numbered peoples, spreading extremist materials, and gathering and analyzing information on the instructions of EU government bodies and analytical centers." Zyuzev received more than €2 million for the project.
The Public Relations Center noted that he received this money from 12 foreign organizations, including the Hanns Seidel Foundation, the Prague Civil Society Center, the German Council on Foreign Relations, the Swedish Institute, IREX Europe, Chatham House and the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation. The activities of these organizations have been recognized as undesirable in Russia.
FSB officers detained Zyuzev, and the FSB’s Komi Republic investigative unit opened a criminal case against him under Article 275 of the Russian Criminal Code (high treason). "Zyuzev fully admitted his guilt in the crime and identified other people involved in it," the FSB said.