The Model Spy's Fate: A Belarus Mystery

Daria Ostapenko, a Belarusian nude model who spied on Belarusian opposition groups for the Belarusian State Security Committee (KGB), has been charged with espionage in Warsaw. Ostapenko, who moved to Warsaw in 2023, was arrested in Lodz the same year. She is currently in custody awaiting trial and faces a minimum sentence of five years in prison.

Who is Daria Ostapenko?

Daria Ostapenko is a 36-year-old Belarusian nude model and vet who was charged with espionage in Poland in 2024. Ostapenko, who moved from the Belarusian city of Baranovichi to Warsaw in 2023, was arrested in Lodz later that same year. She is suspected of collaborating with the Belarusian KGB and providing information on the activities, structure, and financing of organisations supporting the Belarusian opposition. She is currently in custody awaiting trial and faces a minimum sentence of five years' imprisonment.

Ostapenko made a living by selling nude photos online and working as a model on OnlyFans, a paid online service where models produce pornography for their subscribers. According to sources, her profession made her susceptible to being coerced into working with the KGB due to Belarus's strict laws around prostitution and pornography. It is believed that her cooperation with the KGB may have started as early as 2017.

As an alleged opposition activist, Ostapenko posed as a pro-democracy activist seeking to overthrow the Belarusian government, while in fact, she was informing the KGB about democracy campaigners who had fled abroad, including to Poland. Part of her cover was to work as a model and receive money from subscribers for online pornography.

Ostapenko's spy career came to an end when she reportedly disclosed her secret work to friends while drunk. On the same day, Polish authorities arrested her and found evidence of communication with Belarusian intelligence officers on her phone.

Prior to her career in modelling, Ostapenko was a researcher at Moscow State Regional University in the Department of Psychology. Her published work includes a study on the "values of adolescents, involved in sports activities".

What was her profession?

Daria Ostapenko was a Belarusian nude model. She made a living by selling nude photos online and was active on Only Fans, a paid online service where models produce pornography for their subscribers. Ostapenko was also allegedly engaged in prostitution back in Belarus.

Ostapenko moved from the Belarusian city of Baranovichi to Warsaw in 2023. She was arrested in Lodz later that same year. She was charged with espionage in Warsaw and is currently awaiting trial.

How did she end up in custody?

Anastasia Vashukevich, also known as Nastya Rybka, is a Belarusian model who rose to prominence in February 2018 when she posted a video from a police van, claiming she had 16 hours of audio and video evidence of ties between Russian officials and Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign. She said she obtained this information through an acquaintance with Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska. Deripaska denied the allegations and sued both her and her associate, Alexander Kirillov, winning a breach of privacy lawsuit.

In February 2018, Vashukevich and Kirillov were arrested in Thailand on charges of soliciting sex and running an illegal "sex training course". They spent nine months in custody before being sentenced to an 18-month prison term. They were deported to Russia in January 2019, and upon arrival in Moscow, they were briefly detained and then released.

In October 2024, Nastya Rybka was detained at Moscow's main airport after being deported from Thailand. She was seized and dragged from the transit zone onto Russian territory and taken to a police station. She was accused of "luring into prostitution and practising it", a crime that can be punished with up to six years in jail.

In August 2024, Daria Ostapenko, a Belarusian nude model, was charged with espionage in Warsaw, Poland. She was suspected of spying on Belarusian opposition groups and providing information to the Belarusian State Security Committee (KGB). Ostapenko was detained in December 2023 and is currently awaiting trial, facing a minimum sentence of five years' imprisonment.

What was her sentence?

Daria Ostapenko, a Belarusian nude model who spied on Belarusian opposition groups for the Belarusian State Security Committee (KGB), was charged with espionage in Warsaw. She was detained in December 2023 and faces a minimum sentence of five years in prison.

Ostapenko moved from the Belarusian city of Baranovichi to Warsaw in 2023 and was arrested in Lodz later that year. She was detained "in connection with the suspicion of participating in the activities of the Belarusian intelligence service [KGB]," according to Poland's National Prosecutor's Office.

The update from the National Prosecutor's Office stated that Ostapenko "repeatedly provided officers of the Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus with information on the activities, structure, and financing of organizations supporting the Belarusian opposition." The Belarusian authorities used this information to spread political propaganda by presenting the opposition as an extremist organization in international communications.

Ostapenko is currently in custody awaiting trial and is facing a minimum sentence of five years in prison.

What was her role in the Tell the Truth campaign?

Daria Ostapenko, a Belarusian nude model, was charged with espionage in Warsaw, Poland, in December 2023. Ostapenko was a spy for the Belarusian State Security Committee (KGB) and had been providing the committee with information on the activities, structure, and financing of organizations supporting the Belarusian opposition in Poland. She had moved to Warsaw in 2023 and was arrested in Lodz later that year.

Ostapenko played an active role in the opposition's "Tell the Truth" campaign. She took on the role of coordinator during the campaign. However, it is not clear what specific activities she was involved in as part of the campaign.

According to Poland's National Prosecutor's Office, Ostapenko "repeatedly provided officers of the Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus with information on the activities, structure, and financing of organizations supporting the Belarusian opposition." The information was used by the Belarusian authorities to spread political propaganda, portraying the opposition as an extremist organization. They also accused Poland of training terrorist organizations and planning attacks on critical infrastructure in Belarus.

Ostapenko's cooperation with the Belarusian security services may have started as early as 2017, according to sources. Her profession as a model made her vulnerable to coercion, and the strict laws in Belarus may have contributed to her decision to work with the KGB.

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