[4] In this role, she worked with conservative groups in the US, including the National Rifle Association, allegedly as part of an effort to promote Russian interests in the 2016 United States presidential election.

[4][5][6] The Senate Intelligence Committee later concluded that she attempted to persuade the Trump campaign to establish a secret communications back channel with Russia.

[7] In July 2018, while residing in Washington, D.C., Butina was arrested by the FBI and charged with acting as an agent of the Russian Federation "without prior notification to the Attorney General.

"[8] In December 2018, she pleaded guilty to felony charges of conspiracy to act as an unregistered foreign agent of the Russian state under 18 U.S.C.

Butina was born on 10 November 1988, in the Siberian city of Barnaul, in Altai Krai, about 210 miles (340 km) east of the present Kazakhstan–Russia border.

Her mother was the chief engineer of an energy enterprise and her father Valery Viktorovich Butin was an entrepreneur who established a furniture manufacturing business in Barnaul.

[25] According to US prosecutors who prosecuted Butina on charges of conspiracy and acting as a foreign agent, her love of guns was a ruse to advance Russia's agenda within the Republican Party.

[4] Anders Åslund described Right to Bear Arms as a "front organization with the purpose of infiltrating American groups and forging cooperation with the National Rifle Association of America.

Among them were Keene, gun manufacturer and NRA first vice president Pete Brownell,[40] conservative American political operative Paul Erickson, and Milwaukee County sheriff David Clarke.

One of their hosts was Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who in 2014 was sanctioned by the White House following Russia's annexation of Crimea.

[28][41][42] According to a disclosure Clarke filed, Right to Bear Arms paid $6,000 to cover his meals, lodging, transportation and other expenses.

In 2015, Torshin, then the Russian Central Bank deputy governor, and Butina met the Treasury undersecretary for international affairs, Nathan Sheets, to discuss U.S.-Russian economic relations.

[44][45][46] In a June 2015 article published in The National Interest, a conservative American international affairs magazine, just before Trump announced his candidacy for president, she urged better relations between the United States and Russia,[37] saying, "It may take the election of a Republican to the White House in 2016 to improve relations between the Russian Federation and the United States."

[51] For five years, prosecutors claimed, Butina lived with and maintained an intimate relationship with activist and fraudster Paul Erickson.

The court filings detail the Russian official's and Butina's efforts for Butina to act as an agent of Russia inside the United States by developing relationships with U.S. persons and infiltrating organizations having influence in the Republican Party and in conservative politics—such as the National Rifle Association, the National Prayer Breakfast and some religious organizations—for the purpose of advancing the interests of the Russian Federation.

[59] The filings also describe certain actions taken by Butina to further this effort during multiple visits from Russia and, later, when she entered and resided in the United States on a student visa.

The filings allege that she undertook her activities "without officially disclosing the fact that she was acting as an agent of Russian government, as required by law.

"[32][37][61] Torshin has also been the subject of a probe by the FBI into whether the Russian government attempted to illegally funnel money to the NRA in order to help Trump win the presidency.

[70] Leonid Slutsky, head of the lower house of the Russian parliament's foreign affairs committee, called Butina's case a "modern political inquisition.

[72] According to the foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, "having created unbearable conditions for her and threatening her with a long jail sentence, she was literally forced to sign up to absolutely ridiculous charges.

[159] In the September 2021 Russian legislative election Butina ran for the 8th State Duma on the party list of United Russia.

[161] She expressed support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, sharing a video on social media displaying the Z symbol on her jacket.

[162] She had previously made an appearance the day after the beginning of the invasion on state-controlled TV talk show Time Will Tell condemning the Ukrainian government for arming civilians to repel Russian assaults on cities.