Ruslan Ismailovich Balbek (Russian: Руслан Исмаилович Бальбек; born 28 August 1977) is a member of the Russian Duma from the United Russia Party. A supporter of the Russian annexation of Crimea, he has been highly critical of the Mejlis. After his family returned from exile when he was a child he lived in Sudak, where he began trying to enter local politics with the Socialist Party in 2010, but did not gain much power. From 2007 to 2012 he was a delegate of the Qurultay. In 2014 he became more powerful in politics, being chosen for a position in the Council of Ministers instead of Lenur Islyamov. Shortly after entering the Duma in 2016 he was sanctioned by Canada. After the prosecutors office of Ukraine opened a case against him for treason, which he described as "nonsense", saying he never swore loyalty to the Maidan 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. He has been criticized for making bold unsubstantiated claims, including saying Vatan Karabash's attempted self-immolation was a Hollywood production and that Hizb-ut-tahir is Anglo-saxon. Opposition has 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.