Police in Thailand have filed new charges against a self-described Russian sex guru and a woman who claims to have evidence of Russian ties to President Donald Trump's election campaign.
In this Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018, file photo, Alexander Kirillov, left rear, and Anastasia Vashukevich, right, arrive at the immigration detention center. Police have filed new charges against a self-described Russian sex guru and a woman who claims to have evidence of Russian ties to U.S. President Donald Trump's election campaign. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
The woman, Anastasia Vashukevich, also known as Nastya Rybka, has attracted widespread attention for claiming to have recordings of Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, a crony of President Vladimir Putin, discussing interference in the U.S. election. She is being held in an immigration detention center and has said she fears for her life and pleaded not to be expelled to Russia.
Col. Apichai Krobpetch, a police superintendent in Pattaya, where the two were arrested with eight others for working illegally by holding a sex training course, confirmed Wednesday that additional arrest warrants had been issued for soliciting, with a maximum prison term of 10 years, and conspiracy, which carries a maximum penalty of seven years.
The original charge on which all 10 were held was working without a permit, punishable by up to 10 years' imprisonment. Three of the 10 have already received a suspended jail sentence of six months and been ordered to leave the country. The others will have to appear in court on April 17 to hear the new charges.
The group was arrested on Feb. 25 in a hotel meeting room in Pattaya, a seaside resort city noted for its sex industry and popularity with Russian visitors. The lessons were attended by about 40 Russian tourists, many wearing T-shirts saying "Sex animator" in English with an arrow pointing to the wearer's crotch. The course was led by Alexander Kirillov, also known as Alex Lesley, who was Vashukevich's mentor.
In this Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018, file photo, Anastasia Vashukevich arrives at the immigration detention center. Police have filed new charges against a self-described Russian sex guru and a woman who claims to have evidence of Russian ties to U.S. President Donald Trump's election campaign. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Vashukevich, who carries a passport from Belarus, became the center of a public scandal in early February when Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny published an investigation drawing on her social media posts suggesting corrupt links between billionaire Deripaska and a top Kremlin official, Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Prikhodko. The report featured video from Deripaska's yacht in 2016, when Vashukevich claims she was having an affair with him and allegedly recorded him talking about Russian interference in U.S. politics.
Deripaska has been linked to Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign manager has been indicted on money laundering charges in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.
Deripaska is one of 24 Russian officials and tycoons faced with new sanctions imposed by the United States last month as Washington stepped up its condemnation of Russia's actions in recent years, including its 2014 annexation of Crimea, support for Syrian President Bashar Assad, hacking attacks and meddling in Western elections. The metals tycoon controls a business empire with assets in aluminum, energy and construction and is worth $5.3 billion, according to Forbes magazine.
Iran's top judge hinted at fast trials and executions for those who were detained in nationwide protests against the country's theocracy, even as activists said Wednesday that the death toll rose to levels unseen in decades with at least 2,572 people killed so far.
Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei made the comments about trials and executions in a video Tuesday, despite a warning from U.S. President Donald Trump that he would “take very strong action” if executions take place.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said the number of dead climbed to at least 2,571 early Wednesday. The figure dwarfs the death toll from any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
After Trump was informed on the number of deaths, he warned Iran's leaders that he was terminating any negotiations and would “act accordingly.”
Details of the crackdown began emerging Tuesday as Iranians made phone calls abroad for the first time in days after authorities severed communications countrywide when the protests broke out.
Here is the latest:
Major Middle East governments were discouraging the Trump administration from waging a war with Iran, fearing “unprecedented consequences” in the volatile region, an Arab Gulf diplomat said Wednesday.
The Cairo-based diplomat said major governments in the region including Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabai and Pakistan have been “in constant contact” with the U.S. administration over a potential American strike on Iran that could explode into a “full-blown war.”
Such a war will “certainly” have dire repercussions “not only on the Middle East but also on the global economy," he said.
Iran and its proxies, the Houthis and the Iraqi militias, could strike back, targeting “not only American assets, but also oil facilities and maritime routes," he said.
Iranian state television said Wednesday’s mass funeral in Tehran would include 300 bodies of security force members and civilians. The funeral is expected to take place at Tehran University under heavy security.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency, which is tracking the death toll, said more than 2,550 people have been killed, 2,403 protesters and 147 government-affiliated.
Twelve children were killed, along with nine civilians it said were not taking part in protests. More than 18,100 people have been detained, the group said.
Gauging the demonstrations and the death toll from abroad has grown more difficult and The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll given the communications being disrupted in the country.
Melanie Lidman contributed from Jerusalem.
Trump’s decision to impose a 25% tariff on countries that trade with Iran could impact India, an expert said, as New Delhi already faces existing 50% U.S. trade levies due its purchases of Russian oil.
Abhijit Mukhopadhyay, a senior economist at the Chintan Research Foundation in New Delhi, said the bigger risk is not India-Iran trade, but India’s access to the U.S. market as its exports to Iran are modest.
India mainly exports rice, tea, sugar, pharmaceuticals and electrical machinery to Iran, while importing dry fruits and chemical products. Textiles and garments, gems and jewelry and engineering goods are likely to be the most vulnerable sectors, he said.
Trump’s latest move also could affect India’s investments in Iran including the strategically important Chabahar port, which gives India a trade route to Afghanistan, Central Asia and Europe while bypassing Pakistan, Mukhopadhyay said.
Iran’s judiciary chief signals fast trials and executions for those detained in nationwide protests.
Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei made the comment in a video shared by Iranian state television on Wednesday.
He emphasized the need for swift action, saying delays would lessen the impact.
His remarks challenge Trump, who warned Iran about executions in an interview aired Tuesday.
Trump stated the U.S. would take strong action if Iran proceeded with executions. The situation highlights escalating tensions between the two countries over the handling of the protests.
Dozens of Pakistani students studying in Iran have returned home through a remote southwestern border crossing, a Pakistani immigration official said Wednesday.
Federal Investigation Agency spokesperson in Quetta city, Samina Raisani, said about 60 students crossed into Pakistan on Tuesday through Gabd border in Balochistan province with valid travel documents.
More students were expected to return through the same crossing later Wednesday, she said.
Mudassir Tipu, Pakistan’s ambassador to Iran, said Tuesday that Iranian universities had rescheduled exams and permitted international students to leave the country.
The satellite internet provider Starlink now offers free service in to people Iran who have access to the company's receivers, activists said Wednesday.
Mehdi Yahyanejad, a Los Angeles-based activist who helped get the units into Iran, told The Associated Press that the free service had started. Other activists also confirmed in messages online that the service was free.
Starlink has been the only way for Iranians to communicate with the outside world since authorities shut down the internet Thursday night as nationwide protests swelled and they began a bloody crackdown against demonstrators.
Starlink did not immediately acknowledge the decision.
This frame grab from videos taken between Jan. 9 and Jan. 11, 2026, and circulating on social media purportedly shows images from a morgue with dozens of bodies and mourners after crackdown on the outskirts of Iran's capital, in Kahrizak, Tehran Province. (UGC via AP)
