Russia sentences professor with dual Russian-Canadian citizenship to seven years for treason

Source: TASS

The Supreme Court of the Komi Republic sentenced Nikolai Zyuzev, a Russian and Canadian citizen, to seven years in prison on charges of preparing a “project against Russia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” using foreign grants.

Zyuzev developed the project and began implementing it in February 2022, according to Russia’s Federal Security Service, as cited by the Russian state news agency TASS. The project called for, among other things, “training abroad leaders of national liberation movements of Russia’s small indigenous peoples.”

Zyuzev received a total of $2 million for the project from 12 foreign organizations, including some designated as “undesirable,” the security service announced. “Zyuzev fully admitted guilt in the crime he was charged with and exposed the people involved in it,” the FSB claimed.

Zyuzev holds a doctorate in philosophy, the Russian Telegram news channel Ostorozhno Novosti reported. He taught at institutions of higher education in Komi, including heading the philosophy department at Ukhta State Technical University.

In 2008, Zyuzev moved to Canada, where he earned a law degree and taught at a college affiliated with the University of Toronto.

He returned to Syktyvkar in 2015 and resumed teaching. After the start of the full-scale war, Zyuzev left Russia but continued to visit Komi. He has been in custody since June 2026.

The outlet said the criminal case against Zyuzev was initially opened on a charge of “confidential cooperation with a foreign state or an international or foreign organization” (Article 275.1 of Russia’s Criminal Code). The verdict now cites a charge of “treason” (Article 275 of Russia’s Criminal Code).

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Russia sentences professor with dual Russian-Canadian citizenship to seven years for treason

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Russia sentences professor with dual Russian-Canadian citizenship to seven years for treason

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