About a year ago, I pointed to a curious story about Nastya Rybka, a Russian escort and sex trainer being held in Thailand and being charged with prostitution and related offenses. She had made curious claims about
Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska (having spent time on his yacht) and the whole Trump-Russia connection. Deripaska is an ex-business associate of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. The Trump Administration recently (and suspiciously) lifted sanctions on Deripaska’s companies.
Yesterday, Rybka, whose real name is Anastasia Vashukevich received a suspended sentence and released for time served (9 months) in Thailand. She is being returned to Russia.
When he was confronted by CNN in 2017, Deripaska called allegations that he may have been a back channel from the Kremlin to the Trump campaign “fake news.”
Regarding his alleged relationship with Vashukevich, a representative for Deripaska told CNN last March: “This is clearly an attempt by Anastasia Vashukevich (aka Nastya Rybka) to politicize the accusations of the Thai police. There have been endless fictitious stories told by her, all serving to distract the public from real violations, including very serious breaches of law of many countries.”
Now that she is out of Thai prison and being returned to Russia, I guess we’ll never know…
UPDATE — Relatedly, this happened today:
BREAKING: Senate GOP defeats Dem measure to enforce sanctions against companies controlled by Russian oligarch OLEG DERIPASKA.
— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) January 16, 2019
Dems needed 60 votes, only got 57, even after GOP defections.
Sanctions now all but certain to be lifted this week pursuant to TRUMP administration deal.