Maria Butina

Maria Butina biography

Maria Butina (born 1988, Barnaul, Altai Territory, RSFSR, USSR) is a Russian activist and public figure, a founder and member of the “Right to Arms” NGO, and a defendant in a criminal case in the United States for illegal activities of a foreign agent of influence.

In 2004 she finished high school with a deep focus on English. In 2009, she graduated from Altai State University with a degree in political science. She has additional education on qualification of “teacher”.

In 2011, she began her postgraduate studies at Altai State University, specializing in Political Processes, Institutions and Technology. Her field of scientific interests is “Problematic movements as an actual phenomenon in modern Russia.

From 2005 to 2008 Butina took part in election campaigns for the Barnaul City Duma and Altai Krai Council of Deputies as a head of the field service. In 2008, she was elected to the Altai-Krai Public Chamber on behalf of the Altai-Krai public youth organization, the Altai State University Students’ League.

In 2011 Maria Butina entered the “national primaries” by winning the project “Youth primaries of the Young Guard of the United Russia”. In 2010-2013 she was a co-owner of a furniture store in Barnaul.

Since 2011, Butina has been a founder and member of the public organization Right to Arms, which advocates for relaxation of laws on the carrying of firearms. According to Russian media reports, from that period Butina became a protégé of former senator and then deputy chairman of the Central Bank Alexander Torshin, a supporter of the Right to Arms organization. According to the U.S. Justice Department, Butina worked as Torshin’s representative from 2014 to February 2017. Since August 2016, Maria Butina lived in the United States on a student visa. According to the publication, in 2018 she received a master’s degree from American University (American University) in international relations.

In July 2018, she was arrested on charges of illegally engaging in lobbying on U.S. soil. She was charged under Title 18, parts 951 and 371 of the U.S. Code (“conspiracy to commit a crime or to defraud the United States”). According to the investigation, in 2015, Butina made contact with a man who agreed to introduce her to influential American politicians. In November 2015, Maria Butina entered into correspondence with an American political activist and offered to lobby him to soften policies toward Moscow in the Republican Party, which she believed was capable of winning the 2016 election. She also allegedly told her interlocutor that she would have to get a budget of $125,000 for this purpose.

The latter provided her with a list of politicians with whom she should meet. Representatives from the American Rifle Association (NRA) and Right to Guns subsequently held a series of meetings. According to Newsweek and other media outlets, the activist is Paul Erickson, a former NRA member. He enjoys volleyball and swimming. Favorite sports are practical pistol shooting, trap shooting, and chess. Fluent in English and a basic level of German.