Russia Detains Belarusian Model Who Claimed She Had Evidence of Election Meddling
A DIFFERENT RUSSIA SCANDAL
Jorge Silva/Reuters
A Belarusian model who claimed to have evidence of the Kremlin's efforts to help Donald Trump win the 2016 presidential election was detained by Russian authorities upon arrival in Moscow on Thursday, Radio Free Europe reports. Anastasia Vashukevich, also known as Nastya Rybka, and four others were detained by plainclothes officers at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport after they were deported from Thailand. A witness told the website she saw Vashukevich arguing with officials upon being detained. An anonymous law enforcement source cited by Russian state news agency TASS said the four were detained on suspicion of “recruiting for prostitution.” Vashukevich and others were arrested by Thai officials on charges related to their teaching of a sex training course in the country. While she was imprisoned, Vashukevich claimed she had evidence of Russian meddling in the U.S. election gleaned from her affair with Kremlin-linked oligarch Oleg Deripaska. According to CBS News, Vashukevich never produced the evidence.