Pro-gun activist charged with acting as Russian agent in U.S.

A 29-year-old Russian womanliving in Washington has been arrested and charged withconspiracy to act as an agent of the Russian government whiledeveloping ties with American citizens and infiltratingpolitical groups, the U.S. Justice Department said on Monday.

Maria Butina, a student at American University and a founderof the pro-gun rights Russian advocacy organization Right toBear Arms, is accused of working at the direction of ahigh-level official who worked for the Russian Central Bank andwas recently sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury's Office of ForeignAssets Control, the Justice Department said in a statement.

The court records do not name the official.

However, she is pictured in numerous photographs on herFacebook page with Alexander Torshin, the deputy head ofRussia's Central Bank, and a person familiar with the matterconfirmed to Reuters that she worked for him.

Torshin was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department inApril.

Butina was arrested on Sunday and was ordered held pending ahearing set for Wednesday, it said.

According to the complaint against her, she worked with two unidentified U.S. citizens and the Russian official to try to influence U.S. politics and infiltrate a pro-gun rightsorganization.

The complaint does not name the group. Photos onher Facebook page show she has attended events sponsored by theNational Rifle Association.

She arranged dinners in Washington and New York City andtried to develop relationships with U.S. politicians inorder to establish "back channel" lines of communication to"penetrate the U.S. national decision-making apparatus toadvance the agenda of the Russian Federation," the complaintsaid.