DW Phillips

How Russian KGB/FSB agents shape a propaganda narrative through the world of high fashion. My conversation with former Ukrainian runway model and director of Miss Ukraine, Iryna Kopanytsia.

DW PHILLIPS

DEC 16, 2024

Anna Chapman, born Anna Vasilyevna Kushchenko, a Russian spy convicted of espionage. Here pictured on the fashion runway

They met at a popular Manhattan Starbucks.

She thought he was another Russian spy. That was just his cover.

He was an agent for the FBI. She was the mark – codename 90-60-90 – one of twelve targets who would be arrested that week as part of Operation Ghost Stories.

They were all sleeper agents hidden under false identities. She was the fashion beauty of the cabal, a twenty three year old fiery red head and daughter of a former KGB official. She was dubbed “the new Mata Hari.” Her goal was to blend in to high society, gather sensitive information, and report back to Moscow

He handed her a fake passport.

“Are you ready for the next step?” he asked.

The next step was to deliver the passport to a known Russian spy.

“Of course,” she replied.

Anna Chapman, born Anna Vasilyevna Kushchenko, was arrested shortly after.

She had carefully constructed a reputation for ease of access through the high end world of New York glamour and wealth. But everything came crashing down when she was charged with espionage as a member of a Russian spy ring.

Her employer was the Russian Federation’s external intelligence agency, the Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki (SVR), an immediate successor to the KGB. Her boss reported directly to the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, who at the same time was meeting with U.S. President Barak Obama in Washington on a diplomatic mission.

In the end, Kushchenko got a break when she was deported to Russia in a prisoner spy swap. Upon her return, she entered the world of fashion as a cover girl and runway model. But she never returned to the United States.

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Enter Iryna Kopanytsia

The story of Anna Chapman is a fitting introduction for my interview this week with Iryna Kopanytsia, former Director at Miss Ukraine, with more than a decade of experience as an international runway model. Iryna is well versed in Russian influence and espionage from within the lucrative world of the fashion industry

Today she defends her nation by fighting Russiandezinformatsia and advocating for the mental health of Ukrainians suffering the trauma of Russian warcrimes.

In early 2024, Iryna invited me to present a paper to her conference in Kyiv. The event explored the problem of mental health during war.

My job was to offer the perspective of a filmmaker who had interviewed Ukrainian war orphans, soldiers, pastors, teachers, mothers and fathers, from Bucha to the Carpathian mountains.

This week I spoke with Iryna about the weaponization of fashion by Russian propaganda architects, and the influence of disinformation in the world of high profile runway models.

DWP: Iryna, thanks for visiting with me today.

Iryna: It’s a pleasure.

DWP: The weaponization of the fashion industry by Russia is a subject which hits home for you?

Iryna: Of course.

DWP: Let’s talk about Russia as a brand.

We tend to think of American, French, African, and English models by their names rather than their country of origin. But it seems to me that to be a Russian model is to be part of a national brand.

I’m not only thinking of the more influential Russian models like Natalia Vodianova, Irina Shayk, and Natasha Poly, but the waves of new models who arrive in Milan, Paris, and New York marketing themselves as Russian.

There is the perception of a reputation and elite status that transcends the individual and connects them with “Russia the Brand.”

Do you agree with this evaluation?

Iryna: A component of cultural diplomacy is the fashion industry.

Russian influence in the international fashion community does not seem so frightening or dangerous at first glance, but only until we dig deeper.

All of this is part of long-term strategies, initially developed by the KGB and now continued by the FSB. It is through these avenues that agents of influence are embedded into Western society.

DWP: You have a distinguished career as an international model working extensively in the fashion industry. You have seen a lot. Now you are fighting for your country against a cunning and ethically bankrupt adversary.

I am impressed by your emphasis both on combating Russian disinformation and fighting for the mental health of your countrymen who have endured horrors that few in the West can appreciate experientially.

From your vantage point, how deep is the influence of Russian propaganda in art and culture?

Iryna: Today, seeds planted 10–15 years ago are already sprouting. Science, culture, painting, ballet, and fashion are all industries used as tools of influence to spread specific narratives, propaganda, and disinformation.

DWP: What do you see as the greatest threat?

Iryna: The main danger lies in the fact that this influence is very covert in these industries, not as obvious as political agendas. But while political motives and news quickly lose relevance, disappearing within weeks, months, or a year, culture, science, fashion, and art are what endure for centuries.

DWP: Why do you think this kind of subversion flies under the radar of so many?

Iryna: It requires a very high level of critical thinking and an educational background to recognize the danger in the long-term perspective and strategies of the enemy.

Through seemingly harmless stakeholders in the Russian fashion industry, integration into Western society begins, followed by the involvement of Western opinion leaders from these industries into their community.

This is followed by more frequent mentions and displays of the enemy’s national symbols, “national values” (if they can be called that), and later, imperial narratives.

And at this point, these very Western opinion leaders in their respective industries find themselves trapped

.

DWP: How are they trapped?

Iryna: Having already become part of a community, they cannot admit to being naive, foolish, or complicit in something negative.

As a result, they will promote and glorify what they are involved in, with whom they interact, and what they are part of.

DWP: So the popularized image of Russian culture becomes a facade to hide the dark horror of Russia kidnapping hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian children, executing civilians en masse and other warcrimes.

Iryna: Yes.

DWP: You talk about the silence of the complicit parties.

I have seen similar behavior in sectors of American life. People would rather cover-up their complicity advancing a false narrative than acknowledge personal culpability. Moscow understands this weakness and exploits it.

Iryna: If you study the KGB’s strategies, you will see active exploitation and manipulation through figures in the fashion industry: models, designers, as well as manipulations involving female beauty.

DWP: Who are they recruiting?

Iryna: Models, artists, TV hosts, journalists, volunteers, and human rights activists were among the primary categories used by the KGB—and later the FSB—in their strategies of infiltrating Western society to further undermine democratic values, spread their necessary agendas, and conduct subversive activities.

DWP: Russia is engaged in mass terrorism and warcrimes against your country. They are your enemy. Does silence on the part of the models and designers who jet set between St. Petersburg and Paris equal tacit approval?

IRYNA: I believe that anyone who does not openly declare their position today and remains silent is far more dangerous than an obvious saboteur or enemy.

Such a person is inherently cunning, hypocritical, and corrupt, hiding behind the narrative of “I am not interested in politics,” but in reality avoiding self-identification with the fundamental values of humanity. And if you dig deeper from a psychological perspective, these are people devoid of empathy.

DWP: Do you believe that Russian models are complicit? I am referring to those who proudly wear the label Russian model, and who enjoy a jet setting life between NYC and St. Petersburg. Does this world of fashion come with a price tag for the Russian model?

Iryna: There is a simple logic: When dealing with dictatorial or terrorist states, we are forced to account for their active interference in all spheres of life and their thirst for total control.