Ruslan Balbek

Ruslan Ismailovich Balbek (Руслан Исмаилович Бальбек; born 28 August 1977) is a Russian and former Ukrainian politician and former member of the State Duma from the United Russia party.

A supporter of the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, he has been highly critical of the Mejlis.

Balbek grew up in Sudak, then part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in the Soviet Union, where his family lived after their return from exile.

His political opponents have described him as a "collaborator" and "careerist" enriching himself by supporting the administration in Crimea, and Mustafa Dzhemilev has accused him of being an FSB agent since 2006, pointing out his arrest for embezzlement in 2006, citing his release from the charges in 2006 and his release after arrest for assaulting a police officer in 2011.

From 2007 to 2012 he was a delegate of the Qurultay.

He began trying to enter local politics with the Socialist Party of Ukraine in 2010, but remained a junior figure.

In 2014 he took on a more senior role in politics, being chosen for a position in the Council of Ministers of Crimea, replacing Lenur Islyamov.

Shortly after entering the Duma in 2016 he was sanctioned by Canada.

The Prosecutor's office of Ukraine opened a case against him for treason, which he described as "nonsense", saying he never swore loyalty to the Euromaidan Government.

As a member of the Duma he has denied that Moscow treats Crimean Tatars as second-class citizens, contradicting claims from Crimean Tatar opposition.

Balbek has been criticized for making bold unsubstantiated claims, including saying Vatan Karabash's attempted self-immolation was a Hollywood production and that Hizb ut-Tahrir is a product of Anglo-Saxons.

Sanctioned by the UK government in 2016 in relation to Russo-Ukrainian War.