BANGKOK, Thailand -- A Belorussian woman and her nine companions from
Russia and Belarus, who are in jail for sex-related activity in
Thailand, sent a letter to the U.S. Embassy pleading for asylum in
exchange for alleged criminal evidence concerning Russians who may be
linked to President Trump.
   The 10 jailed people include Anastasia Vashukevich, a Belorussian
"mistress" of Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, their handwritten
signed letter said.
   Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Prikhodkho and Russian
opposition leader Alexei Navalny were also named in their letter which
said "U.S. relations with Russia" and "very important information for
USA" were involved.
   "We have photo-video-audio of crymes [sic] of Russian government.
And I give them USA if you help us," it said according to Khaosod
English, a Thailand-based online news service which published a
photograph of the letter.
   Addressed "To USA Consul" it was written by Alexander Kirillov, a
Russian also known as Alex Lesley, who was jailed along with the
others.
   The letter did not reveal evidence or details to support their claim.
   It was delivered on February 28 by Pavlo Yunko who said he attended
the "awesome...really fun" sex lessons.
   The "political asylum" request came the same day Thailand's 2014
coup leader Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha met in Bangkok with the
visiting Russian security council secretary and former Federal
Security Service director Nikolai Patrushev.
   They talked about bilateral tourism and security but it was not
publicly known if they discussed the 10 jailed people.
   The 10 tourists were arrested on February 25 in Pattaya, a
notoriously sleazy beach resort on the Gulf of Thailand where they
allegedly participated in illegal lessons about sex, taught by Mr.
Kirillov.
   Thai officials said they received complaints about the $700
week-long class and, after raiding the meeting, arrested the 10 for
visa violations and working without a permit.
   Foreigners working without a permit can be jailed up to five years
but are usually fined and deported, which is what the group of 10 now
fear.
   Ms. Vashukevich calls herself Nastya Rybka on her Instagram account
(@nastya_rybka.ru) where she introduces herself to more than 100,000
followers as "Deripaska's mistress".
   Her last update from jail on February 28 said "if we go back to
Russia we will die in Russian's [sic] prison or they will kill us."
   One hour earlier, Ms. Vashukevich wrote: "Please USA help us not to
die from Russians!"
   Mr. Navalny, a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, "used
our videos for his investigation" against various Russians, she said.
   "In my book 'Who wants to seduce a billionaire' there are many
facts that hurt influential people of several countries," she wrote on
February 23.
   Her book "The Diary of How to Seduce a Billionaire" was published
in 2017 and included falsely named characters in fake locations, but
supposedly were easy to decipher.
   Anti-Putin activist Mr. Navalny assumed she had written about her
presence with her oligarch lover Mr. Deripaska and the powerful deputy
prime minister Mr. Prikhodko on a yacht.
   He apparently figured this out because she had separately posted
online several photos of her time on the yacht with the two men, plus
other details.
   Mr. Navalny claimed "Deripaska in the book is called 'Ruslan' --
his company is called Rusal -- while Prikhodko is called 'Daddy' --
the man to whom everyone, including the oligarch, defers," reported
The Daily Beast news.
   Ms. Vashukevich and the two men cruised together on the yacht
during August 7, 2016 off Norway's coast, according to Mr. Navalny.
   During Mr. Navalny's recent sensational video "investigation" into
alleged corruption by Russians, he read from Ms. Vashukevich's book
where she supposedly portrayed the deputy prime minister:
   "This is the gray eminence of the regime. [The] Richelieu of our
time...There's hardly any information on the internet, but since
[former Russian President Boris] Yeltsin's times, he's been deputy
prime minister and worked at the presidential administration.
   "He writes pre-election speeches, presidential addresses to the
assembly, he's got a lot of awards...He's the only one the president
hasn't dismissed yet, a long-term member of the government, he's been
among the top officials since the '90s.
   "That's why they call him Daddy. He's been responsible for Russia's
foreign policy for the government, he has very large influence," Ms.
Vashukevich's book said, according to Mr. Navalny.
   "The video investigation goes on to document some of the very
expensive properties owned by the deputy PM, underscoring his alleged
corruption in much the same way other Navalny videos have done with
other officials, including Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev," The Daily
Beast reported in February.
   President Donald Trump is supposedly linked to all this through
Washington lobbyist Paul Manafort who allegedly was paid by Mr.
Deripaska beginning in 2005.
   "At the very least, these two men [Deripaska and Manafort] know
each other very well, and one has been getting money from the other,"
Mr. Navalny reportedly said in his video.
   Mr. Navalny then indicated -- but provided no evidence -- that Mr.
Deripaska was transmitting valuable information about Mr. Trump and
the presidential election to the Russian deputy prime minister, so Mr.
Putin would be informed.
   It all happened "on an oligarch's yacht [with] a bunch of
prostitutes. Yes there were several," Mr. Navalny said in his video.
   The video shocked Russians.
   But Ms. Vashukevich's babbling on Instagram about her role as a
sexy subversive -- illustrated with gorgeous selfies of her duck mouth
and G-stringed rear in various exotic locales -- also pumped the
scandal, prompting more conspiracy theories and allegations.
   "This dubious woman Rybka [Ms. Vashukevich] has been breaking news
about Prikhodko and Deripaska, using social networks, just as Navalny
or Trump do. She has grown famous, instantly," Olga Bychkova, deputy
editor in chief of Echo of Moscow radio, told The Daily Beast.
   She also poked at Americans.
   "Why is Mark Zuckerberg aiding in the removal of evidence, such
important [sic] for his country?" Ms. Vashukevich wrote on February
22, referring to "Russia's interference in US elections."
   She posted photos of herself posing without clothes while clutching
a bed sheet in a Pattaya hotel on February 21.
   Ms. Vashukevich was one of the instructors in the Pattaya sex class
where she was introduced to an audience of about 30 fully clothed
people, mostly men, who dramatically cheered and bowed down to her.
   "My loyal subjects, honest toilers of aquariums and reservoirs meet
their Queen, falling prostrate," she wrote on February 21 on
Instagram, linking a video of the celebratory audience.
   Some men wore the group's T-shirt which said in big red letters,
"Sex Animator" above a black arrow pointing down to their waist.