SACRAMENTO — The man behind a campaign to make California its own country is receiving support in Russia from a far-right nationalist group that wants to break up the United States.

Yes California President Louis Marinelli, who is living and teaching in Russia, has partnered and received financial support from the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia, a Kremlin-supported political group that opposes a handful of countries, such as the United States, having a majority of the world’s political clout.

His relationship with the Russian group has caused rifts with some California-based proponents of the secession — known as Calexit — who want nothing to do with a country accused of meddling in the U.S. presidential election.

State campaign finance experts say financial ties between Yes California and the Russian group could violate state laws forbidding foreign groups from contributing to ballot campaigns.

Yes California is currently collecting petition signatures to qualify a measure on the 2018 ballot that would remove language from the state Constitution describing California as “an inseparable part of the United States of America.” If that measure succeeds, a future ballot measure would ask voters whether the state should secede. The proposed initiative would need more than 585,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot.

A surprising number of Californians — 1 out of 3 — said they support the idea of the state peacefully withdrawing from the union, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll last month.

Constitutional law experts say it’s virtually impossible for the Golden State to break away since it would require an amendment to the U.S. Constitution and support from three-fourths of state legislatures.

Still, interest is driving donations to the proposed ballot measure. Between Jan. 29 and Feb. 2, more than $1,200 from 22 donations flowed into the ballot measure committee, according to data Marinelli shared with The Chronicle. He said 946 people have donated to the ballot measure, mostly in contributions of $25 to $35, although some have given as much as $1,000. He did not disclose how much the group has taken in all together.

Marinelli, a 30-year-old New Yorker by birth and upbringing, is unapologetic about his efforts to advocate in Russia for California’s secession. He graciously accepts numerous American media interviews and has been featured positively on many occasions in Russian state media. Marinelli, who first moved to California in 2006, said his focus is on one thing, despite growing criticism of his motives.

“I want California to separate from the negativity and the dysfunction and the corruption and the broken system we live under,” said Marinelli, who teaches at a language school in Yekaterinburg, Russia. “I just want to live in a country I’m proud of. I’m not proud of the United States or Washington, D.C. I am proud of California.”

He said he is not surprised by the attention his current residence is receiving in the United States.

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“The United States has always tried to train its people to be afraid of Russia and Russians,” he said. “There is always some kind of common enemy that the American system tries to unite the people against when in reality the people should be uniting against the people in Washington. The people in Washington are the enemy, not the people in the rest of the world. Those people in Washington are masters of propaganda and have a machine of fear that they are good at executing.”

Marinelli’s own political background is complex. He was a Republican and a Democrat before running as an independent candidate for the state Assembly last year. He voted for President Trump in November, then quickly used the election to drum up support for the secession campaign. He said he has not seen convincing evidence that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help Trump win the White House, despite the CIA and FBI believing so.

“I don’t take the word of the intelligence community,” he said. “I want to see the evidence myself.”

He’s also no stranger to controversy, having previously worked from Russia against gay marriage before returning to the United States to be a strategist for the National Organization for Marriage. He went on to write a book about his change of heart to supporting gay rights.

Marinelli said he is confident he isn’t running afoul of campaign finance laws. He said he accepted a free hotel room from the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia when he attended a conference in September to promote Yes California. That was before the ballot measure was filed, but he used his speech at the conference to ask for Russia and other countries to acknowledge and support the results of the ballot measure.

That conference of foreign secessionists was partially funded by a $50,000 grant from a Kremlin-backed charity founded by President Vladimir Putin. The Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia is also providing rent-free office space for what Yes California is promoting as a California embassy in Moscow. The two groups will partner for an upcoming exhibit promoting California’s culture.

Marinelli said the Yes California’s “embassy” is separate from the group’s ballot measure.

State law forbids any ballot measure committee from accepting contributions from a foreign government, foreign political party or any noncitizen. Those contributions can be cash or nonmonetary, such as a hotel room or other gifts.

“The reason is that the people trying to influence our decisions at the ballot box should be those affected by those decisions,” said Jessica Levinson, a law professor at Loyola Law School and president of the Los Angeles Ethics Commission. “The purpose is we don’t necessarily trust foreign governments to meddle in our business and we worry about the motives.”

Experts say Russia and groups like the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia have a motive for promoting secessionist movements in the West. Edward Walker, executive director of the UC Berkeley Program in Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies, said anything that creates fissures in the West would benefit Russia and its political elite.

“It’s to weaken the West,” Walker said.

But other secession groups say the only thing being weakened is their efforts to see California split from the United States. And many blame Marinelli.

“We see (Yes California) as a Russian front organization engaged in an attempt to coup the genuine California movement for independence,” said Jed Wheeler, an Oakland resident who is vice chairman of the California National Party, a political group that wants to see California gain its independence.

Marinelli was part of the group that created the California National Party and is feuding with its new leadership. The party has not taken a position on the ballot measure, although some members are supporting it.

“This movement is not because of Russia; it’s happening in spite of Russia,” Wheeler said. Others echoed his comments.

Timothy Vollmer, who supports the ballot measure but is not affiliated with Yes California, said the secession movement in the state would have happened without Marinelli or Yes California.

Vollmer, who is helping gather signatures for the ballot measure in the Bay Area, said many Californians feel disenfranchised, particularly after President Trump won the election without winning the popular vote.

“Basically, my vote didn’t count,” he said. “I still flush and get furious when I think about it.”

And that’s why he gets frustrated by the growing attention on Marinelli.

“It’s demeaning and condescending to suggest that California would do something at the snap of someone’s fingers 6,000 miles away,” Vollmer said. “This is much bigger than one person.”

The attention on Marinelli prompted Yes California to make all of its chapters independent. Marcus Ruiz Evans, who founded Yes California with Marinelli, said the “baggage” associated with Marinelli and the “Russia questions” prompted the group to tell chapters they were free to do as they please. He said they all have one mission — for California to gain independence — and there is only one ballot measure that would take the first step toward that.

Marinelli plans to fly to Los Angeles for a Yes California media conference Feb. 13 with hopes of ending the uncertainty about him and his motives.

Marinelli said he plans to return to California when immigration issues related to his Russian wife are finalized and he lands a new job in the state. In the meantime, he said his focus is on the ballot measure and the embassy, which he said will be privately funded or self-sufficient. He said Yes California staffers are awaiting visas in order to staff the embassy.

He said the embassy will showcase the values Californians believe in — such as talking about the importance of LGBTQ rights and women’s equality — at an event this month with the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia.

“This is an opportunity to promote those values in Russia,” he said. “This is a country that needs to hear that message.”

Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @MelodyGutierrez