At the end of January, the US Department of Justice announced that it was releasing more than three and a half million new pages of documents related to the case of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Among other things, this included two thousand videos and 180,000 photographs.
The files contain the names of well-known historical figures such as Lenin, Stalin, and Brezhnev, as well as quotes from Trotsky. However, they also mention people living in Russia today, and even include their photographs. It should be noted that the mere fact that someone's name appears in Epstein's files does not necessarily mean that they can be linked to pedophilia.
In addition to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the declassified documents also mention the name of former Russian Deputy Minister of Economic Development Sergei Belakov and Eurasian movement ideologue Alexander Dugin. There are also references to "Russian girls," "Russian females," and "Russian models."
Special forces
The latest batch of declassified documents also reveals an interesting connection between Epstein and a Russian special unit. When Epstein applied for a visa to Russia in 2011, he listed the international organization Vympel in the line for the inviting "Russian institution or organization."
This is a special anti-terrorist unit of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). The international organization called Vympel, which invited Epstein, is an umbrella organization for veterans of the aforementioned unit. As noted by the Russian émigré newspaper Novaya Gazeta in declassified files, former FSB agent Sergei Belakov helped with the invitation letter from the Vympel veterans.
Investigative journalists from Russia's Dossier Center have compiled extensive material on Belakov, suggesting that the former deputy minister of economic development of Russia is just the tip of the iceberg of Epstein's contacts in Russia.
It was Belakov who helped Epstein's assistant Svetlana Pozidayeva, known as Lana, obtain a visa to the US. Lana helped establish "contacts between Western business leaders and Russian authorities." She was first photographed at Epstein's residence in December 2010, at the same time as Britain's Prince Andrew.
After being appointed head of the board of directors of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Belakov sought to secure the participation of Jeffrey Epstein, film director Woody Allen, and Israeli politician Ehud Barak – who did indeed appear at the forum.
Models and females
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche stated that the Department of Justice (DOJ) did not attempt to protect the incumbent US president or anyone else except Epstein's alleged victims when releasing the documents. The documents are available on the DOJ website and partially on other websites.
Nevertheless, there are photos in which Epstein's and Trump's faces were covered during declassification, while the faces and names of several victims remained uncovered. This approach by DOJ staff also sheds new light on the death of Russian supermodel Ruslana Korshunova from Kazakhstan.
She committed suicide in New York in the summer of 2008—no drugs were found in her blood, and she left no note. Two years ago, information emerged that in 2006, the model flew to the island with her wealthy suitor. And based on the new wave of Epstein's files being made public, we learn that Korshunova's agency did not pay for something that happened on the island.
However, the documents show that Russian girls were in demand on the island. For example, in a conversation with Epstein on June 12, 2013, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, a businessman from the United Arab Emirates, explained parts of the Koran and the next day said he couldn't wait to "taste 100 percent Russian female."
Bin Sulayem is also the chairman of DP World, a company operating in the field of freight logistics, port operations, maritime services, and customs zones around the world. In 2023, Kiev added the company to its list of supporters of the Russian invasion by circumventing anti-Russian sanctions.
The global ruble
"We should open the gates to mass conversion to Judaism. We will create conditions so that, under social pressure, the second generation in particular will adapt. We can easily absorb another million. I always told Putin that all we need is another million to Israel. It will change things dramatically, that million Russians. Many will welcome it, and many beautiful young Russian girls will come," former Israeli Prime Minister and multiple-time former Minister Ehud Barak said in a recording to Epstein.
In 2006, Putin spoke to then-Israeli President Moshe Katsav in front of an Israeli delegation—unaware that the microphone was on— and praised him for raping ten women, for which Katsav was later convicted. However, the content of Putin's conversations with Barak was shrouded in secrecy until Epstein's files were declassified.
Epstein's response to Barak's words is not found in the currently declassified documents and recordings. However, his thoughts on the Russian currency are interesting. In 2013, Epstein wrote to the then Norwegian Prime Minister and Vice President of the Socialist International, Thorbjørn Jagland, that "the next truly global currency should be the Russian ruble, NOT the Chinese yuan."
However, this was only the completion of an idea from a report that Epstein had sent to Jagland a few days earlier: "As you know, I helped create the derivatives market in the US in the 1970s. That was a prelude to a much more advanced revolutionary scheme that technology now makes possible. Russia is unique in its ability to realize a grand vision. A new form of money on a global basis."