Belarusian escort says she recorded proof of Russian election meddling during a yacht trip with Putin's billionaire friend

Anastasia Vashukevich.
(Image credit: AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe, File)

Anastasia Vashukevich, a Belarusian escort arrested in Thailand for working without a visa, said Monday that she has more than 16 hours of audio recordings that allegedly prove Russian meddling in America's 2016 presidential election, The New York Times reports. "If America gives me protection, I will tell everything I know," she said.

Vashukevich, 21, made the recordings in August 2016 during a yacht trip with Oleg V. Deripaska, a billionaire close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and with business ties to Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort. In a video released last month that uses Vashukevich's recordings and photos, Russian political activist Aleksei A. Navalny claimed that the yacht trip was an attempt by Deripaska to bribe Sergei E. Prikhodko, a deputy prime minister. Vashukevich was one of a number of prostitutes on the boat, the Times says.

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.