Brother of Ukrainian model arrested for naked shoot in Dubai says he had no idea she modelled nude

A Ukrainian model has given a cheeky riposte to claims that she was on the notorious balcony photoshoot in Dubai.

Marianna Fedchuk, 21, admits she was in a clothed picture including many women who subsequently stripped for the naked shot.

But she denied reports by Russian news sites that she was one of the 11 detained by the Dubai authorities, stressing she flew back to Kyiv avoiding the scandal.

Posting a picture of the nude women on the balcony, she said: ‘Those who subscribed to me long ago and have watched my shape, please find me in this picture?

‘Exactly, because I’m not there.

‘That is why I advise you to follow my page more closely, so you can at least distinguish naked me from the other naked girls.’

Marianna Fedchuk, 21, admits she was in a clothed picture including many women who subsequently stripped for the naked shot

Fedchuk denied reports by Russian news sites that she was one of the 11 detained by the Dubai authorities, stressing she flew back to Kyiv avoiding the scandal

The Ukrainian model gave a cheeky riposte to claims that she was on the notorious balcony photoshoot in Dubai

She then posted her own revealing postures and video as she sought to make her point that she was not on the balcony.

She also posted a picture from Kyiv to say that she had flown back ahead of Saturday’s naked shoot.

Meanwhile Vladimir Putin-loyalist governor of Ivanovo region Stanislav Voskresensky has demanded full-scale diplomatic support for Russian businessman Alexey Kontsov, 33, who has been named in the Moscow media as masterminding the naked shoot.

He is the founder of IT company Involta.

‘We do not abandon ours,’ posted the governor.

‘ I asked the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Russian Ambassador to the UAE to provide support (to Kontsov).

Kontsov claims he was in Dubai but not directly involved despite filming the naked women.

The governor said he had been accused in the UAE of ‘violating the social norms of morality’.  

The brother of a trained lawyer detained in Dubai over lurid balcony images said her family knew where she had flown but had no idea that the purpose was a lewd photoshoot. 

Model Yana Graboshchuk, 27, was among the group detained for the revealing rear view photoshoot in an elite skyscraper area of the United Arab Emirates.

She was outed by her distinctive tattoo which matches her social media pictures.

She and the other ten detained Ukrainian women are due to see their consul today amid fears they face jail time and a hefty fine for the stunt which is deemed depraved in Dubai.

‘Her family was unaware of what she was actually doing,’ reported TSN, after the international scandal broke.

‘No-one even suspected the nature of her activity.’

Her brother Taras, 20, said from Ukraine that her family had been unaware of the true purpose of her visit to the Gulf, and were ‘shocked’ when news broke of her detention with other models.

‘She went on holiday, and then I don’t know what came next,’ he said.

‘Yes, she had planned a photo shoot there… But I had no more information about it.’

Model Yana Graboshchuk, 27, was among the group detained for the revealing rear view photoshoot in an elite skyscraper area of the United Arab Emirates

Taras Graboshchuk, 20, the brother of Yana, a trained lawyer detained over the lewd Dubai picture said her family knew she had flown to Dubai but had no idea the purpose was a lurid balcony photoshoot

Yana was outed by her distinctive tattoo which matches her social media pictures. She and the other ten detained Ukrainian women are due to see their consul today amid fears they face jail time and a hefty fine for the stunt which is deemed depraved in Dubai

Yana is a law graduate who found it hard to get a job in her chosen field. After leaving university with her law degree, she worked as a cafe waitress, and a hostess at a restaurant, and then a brewery before starting as a model a year or so ago

Yana is a law graduate who found it hard to get a job in her chosen field.

After leaving university with her law degree, she worked as a cafe waitress, and a hostess at a restaurant, and then a brewery before starting as a model a year or so ago.

Yana showed her friends and family her breakfasts, swimming pools dips, and sports cars on her trip to Dubai – but not the nude balcony scene seen as shameful by the country’s legal authorities.

She had explained that ahead of her detention she had to change hotels for the third time in three days – ‘but I like that’.

Moscow newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets (MK) claimed Russian businessman Alexey Kontsov, 33, ‘was behind the naked photo session in Dubai’.

He is known to have filmed the women but had reportedly said his presence in another apartment with a view of the naked women was a coincidence.  

It is understood he told police he was in a nearby apartment and had filmed the spectacle showing the naked women and then made the ‘fatal mistake’ of sharing the explicit video, a potential crime in the UAE.

He has hired lawyers to call for his release from a Dubai jail.

Moscow newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets (MK) claimed Russian businessman Alexey Kontsov (pictured), 33, ‘was behind the naked photo session in Dubai’. He was detained by police over the naked balcony shoot in the United Arab Emirates, but claims he has nothing to do with the stunt

However, MK cited a source ‘in escort circles’ who said ‘that the nude photo session on the transparent balcony of a skyscraper was part of the preparations for a party ordered by a very influential UAE citizen who is close to local sheikhs’.

The man ordering the women to perform at his party was described as a ‘computer nerd’.

‘His budgets are average. Each model is paid $1,000-$1,500 US dollars per day. But there is a plus for models, because sex is very rare with him.

‘Usually he wants a whole crowd of girls – usually he rents an apartment or a hotel, plays CS GO game, for example, and they hang around naked near him and by the bar.

‘It is very rare for him to take someone.’

The event was seen as nothing out of the ordinary for this customer, the report said.

It is known 11 Ukrainian women were detained and one Russian man.

But reports in the former USSR claim that up to 40 women, including models from Belarus and Moldova, were involved in total.

Another newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda reported a woman saying that her daughter had been close to Kontsov.

‘It was all organised by a Russian man from Ivanovo,’ she posted.

‘My daughter was dating him, and thank God they broke up not that long ago. He runs an IT company, and this is how he advertised it.’

He did ‘not understand’ the cultural sensitivities in Dubai, she said.

‘I will not post the original but these girls are standing and shouting the name of his company. He was promoting celebrities and bloggers.’      

Russian media outlet Life – a media group controlled by Vladimir Putin’s suspected partner and former Olympic gymnast Alina Kabaeva – reported some 40 models were involved in a project which has caused major upset in Dubai.

Fewer were visible on the naked rear picture that sparked fury in the UAE, but the stunt could lead to large fines or six months in jail for those who took part. 

In this picture, at least 19 women can be seen preparing for the naked shoot, which was reportedly for an Israeli porn site

The second image shows nine nude women standing on a balcony in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, one clothed woman is pictured sitting inside on a sofa

Some of the girls who took part in the naked balcony photoshoot were pictured together enjoying their time in Dubai

The shoot on Saturday was on a balcony in the upscale Dubai Marina area and was seen by people from neighbouring skyscrapers. 

Some of those taking part in the naked video are understood to be visible in a group picture – captioned ‘Little Family’ – showing their faces.

Two Ukrainians in their mid-20s — named Yana and Diana, seen riding a camel, on their Instagram accounts – can be identified in the lurid balcony picture from their distinctive tattoos.

Both are on the ‘Little Family’ picture.

Another Ukrainian model Dariya Khorunzhenko, 19, from Poltava, is known to be among the group in the graphic photograph.

Ukrainian models Ekaterina Kashenko, who doubles as an eyebrow stylist, and Sophia Tkachuk, are also among the group.

Russian media also identified models Anastasia Kashuba, 20, and Tatyana Borisenko, in her early 20s. Borisenko is also an amateur makeup artist from Kyiv. She has posted on social media from Dubai.

Marianna Fedchuk, also in her early 20s, from Uzhgorod has also been named. She shared pictures of herself in Dubai on Instagram.

All the identified Ukrainian models had posted videos or images from Dubai on their social media.   

Russian online news outlet Mash reported that the photoshoot also included the daughter of a Russian businessman and former banker.

The woman, 21, denied being at the Dubai shoot on Monday.

All the 40-strong group of women are believed to age from late teens to early 20s. 

The mid-20s Ukrainian beauty had also tagged herself in a picture enjoying a drink on a balcony in Marina walk, Dubai Marina. Yana has a big tattoo of flowers on her left leg and had recently posted a picture of herself showing off the ink in a bikini in Dubai

Ukrainian model Yana had also posted pictures on Instagram showing that she was in Dubai with a location stamp. Yana was initially identified because she featured in an image, dubbed the ‘Little Family’ picture, where the girls all show their faces

Another Ukrainian model, Diana, was also identified from the balcony images because of two recognisable tattoos. The mid-20s Ukrainian sports a curved knife and a flower high on her right thigh, making her recognisable in the balcony pictures

Diana was also identified from the ‘Little Family’ picture where the girls all showed their faces, unliked in other images. Diana’s large thigh tattoo make her easily recognisable from images taken on the Dubai marina balcony, she is believed to have been arrested along with several other women

Ukrainian model Ekaterina Kashenko was also identified from the ‘Little Family’ image and is known for being an eyebrow stylist back home. The Ukrainian beauty also sports several tattoos of leaves and a large crescent moon on her chest and neck

Ukrainian Sophia Tkachuk was another of the models identified as taking part in the naked balcony photoshoot. The model was identified after she was tagged in several pictures on Instagram by fellow Ukrainian models Yana and Diana

Marianna Fedchuk (left and right), also in her early 20s, from Uzhgorod has also been named. She shared pictures of herself in Dubai on Instagram 

Diana has a second recognisable tattoo – a rose on the inside of her right forearm – which made her easily recognisable in the balcony photos

The UAE’s public decency laws, which cover nudity and other ‘lewd behaviour’, carries penalties of up to six months in prison and a 5,000 dirham (£983) fine.

The sharing of pornographic material is also punishable with prison time and a fine of up to 500,000 dirhams under the country’s laws, which are based on Islamic law, or Shariah. 

There has been speculation that the women were involved in a shoot for an Israeli version of an unidentified US adult website. 

The Ukrainian foreign ministry said today that it believes 11 of its female citizens have been detained in Dubai.

‘On April 3, Dubai police detained a group of people in connection with a violation of public morals. According to preliminary information, among the detainees (are) 11 Ukrainian citizens,’ said statement.

Diplomats are due to visit the detainees on Tuesday and will ‘ensure that the rights of the Ukrainian women are respected’. 

Late on Saturday, videos and photographs depicting over a dozen naked women lined up on a balcony while being filmed in Dubai’s upmarket Marina neighbourhood in broad daylight were splashed across social media.

It came as a shock in the federation of seven Arab sheikhdoms, where tamer behaviour – like kissing in public or drinking alcohol without a licence – has landed people in jail. 

 The 15 models in the naked photoshoot (pictured) were part of a publicity stunt for an Israeli website

State-linked newspaper The National reported it appeared to be a ‘publicity stunt,’ without elaborating.

Dubai police said those arrested over the ‘indecent’ video had been referred to the public prosecution.

‘Such unacceptable behaviours,’ the police statement said, ‘do not reflect the values and ethics of Emirati society.’

The UAE, while liberal in many regards compared to its Middle Eastern neighbours, has strict laws governing expression.

People have been jailed for their comments and videos online.

The country’s majority state-owned telecom companies block access to major pornographic websites.  

Violations of the public decency laws, including for nudity and other ‘lewd behaviour’, carry penalties of up to six months in prison and a 5,000 dirham (£983) fine

Dubai police confirmed those arrested over the ‘indecent’ video had been referred to the public prosecution

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