Daria Ostapenko, a Belarusian nude model who spied on Belarusian opposition groups for the Belarusian State Security Committee (KGB), has been charged with espionage in Warsaw.
According to an update from Poland’s National Prosecutor’s Office, the suspect was detained in December 2023 “in connection with the suspicion of participating in the activities of the Belarusian intelligence service [KGB].”
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The suspect moved from the Belarusian city of Baranovichi to Warsaw in 2023 and was arrested in Lodz later the same year.
“During the investigation, it was established that in 2023, the suspect repeatedly provided officers of the Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus with information on the activities, structure and financing of organizations supporting the Belarusian opposition,” the update read.
“The Belarusian authorities used it to spread political propaganda by presenting the Belarusian opposition as an extremist organization in international communications.
“They also accused Poland of training terrorist organizations associating Belarusian citizens, which allegedly planned attacks on critical infrastructure facilities in Belarus on behalf of the Polish special services,” it added.
The suspect is currently in custody awaiting trial and faces “a minimum sentence of five years of imprisonment,” as per the update.
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Kyiv Post reported Ostapenko’s arrest in January, where it was reported that she made ends meet as a model on Only Fans, a paid online service where models produce pornography for their subscribers, with the Belarusian opposition news service claiming that she was also engaged in prostitution back in Belarus.
Sources noted at the time that her profession made her susceptible to being coerced into working with the KGB due to the strict laws in Belarus. Some also claimed her cooperation with authorities could’ve started as early as 2017.
Ostapenko was active in the Belarusian opposition and took on the role of coordinator during the opposition’s “Tell the Truth” campaign.
News reports indicate that Ostapenko, while inebriated from alcohol, disclosed to her friends that she was working for the Belarusian security services. That very day, Polish authorities arrested Ostapenko and indicated that on her phone they had discovered evidence of ongoing communications with intelligence officers.
The Belarusian presidential election and subsequent crackdowns on protestors in 2020 have driven waves of Belarusians to seek refuge in neighboring Poland, accounting for almost 30 percent of all asylum applications in Poland in 2021.
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