Seeking Asylum, an Escort Has a Tale of Trump and Russia to Offer<br />Mr. Deripaska said through a spokesman that Mr. Navalny’s allegations of bribery<br />and prostitutes were a “hot story that appears far from being the truth.”<br />In a last-ditch effort to prevent Ms. Vashukevich’s deportation from Thailand, her associate Alexander Kirillov, also known as Alex<br />Lesley, distributed a letter addressed to “USA Consul” seeking political asylum for all 10 of the arrested sex workshop trainers.<br />Ms. Vashukevich, in a video that she apparently recorded in the back of a Thai police truck after her arrest,<br />said she could provide evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 United States presidential election.<br />“Her immigration offense is working without a work permit.”<br />In events that have played out publicly on Instagram<br />and YouTube for months, Ms. Vashukevich has revealed what she says was her close association with the aluminum tycoon Oleg V. Deripaska and his friendship with Russia’s powerful deputy prime minister, Sergei E. Prikhodko.<br />Mr. Navalny asserted that the yacht trip was a bribe from Mr. Deripaska to Mr. Prikhodko and said<br />that Ms. Vashukevich was one of “several” prostitutes aboard the vessel.<br />Her assertion of inside knowledge might be easily dismissed<br />but for a 25-minute video investigation posted last month on YouTube by the Russian opposition figure Aleksei A. Navalny, which relies heavily on videos and photos from Ms. Vashukevich.
