Russia jails Canadian-Russian national for seven years for treason, Interfax reports

SEPTEMBER 16, 2026 10:21Updated: SEPTEMBER 16, 2026 11:02A Russian court has convicted a Russian-Canadian national of treason and sentenced him to seven years in a penal colony for work he did for separatist movements based outside Russia, the RIA state news agency reported on Wednesday.RIA reported that the man, whom it named as Nikolai Zyuzev, had been convicted of high treason for working to train leaders of "national liberation movements" among Russian ethnic minority groups abroad.It cited Russia's Federal Security Service as saying that his work had been aimed against the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity. RIA did not say how Zyuzev had pleaded to the treason charge.Zyuzev had been involved in distributing "extremist" materials and had been commissioned by "European Union government bodies and think tanks," RIA cited the FSB as saying.Russia is home to dozens of indigenous ethnic minorities, from Muslim Tatars to Buddhist Buryats. RIA reported that Zyuzev had been arrested in Komi, an ethnic minority region in Russia's Arctic north.This is a developing story.Follow us on Google