Russia frees model from police custody who claimed Trump secrets: TASS

Reuters
FILE PHOTO: Model Anastasia Vashukevich, also known as Nastya Rybka, who was deported from Thailand to Russia after her arrest and pleading guilty to charges including conspiracy and soliciting, looks out from a defendants' cage before a court hearing in Moscow, Russia January 19, 2019. REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A model from Belarus who claimed to have evidence of Russian interference in U.S. President Donald Trump's election was freed from Russian police custody on Tuesday, but remains a suspect in an unrelated criminal case, the TASS news agency reported. Anastasia Vashukevich and three others were detained upon arrival at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport on Thursday after being deported from Thailand. Russian authorities have said they suspect her of forcing women into prostitution, a charge that carries a jail sentence of up to three years. Vashukevich, who is also known as Nastya Rybka, has previously said she was in possession of recordings of conversations on interference in the U.S. election through an association with Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. Deripaska's representatives have accused her of fabrication and said she was never his mistress. (Reporting by Tom Balmforth and Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber; Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber)