Former Press Secretary For Putin’s “Nashi” Group Worked For Jeffrey Epstein
Maria Drokova, a former press secretary of the pro-Kremlin youth movement “Nashi,” worked within Jeffrey Epstein’s public-relations network in the years before his final arrest, according to a new investigation by the British outlet Byline Times. The report adds an unexpected Russian dimension to the long-running scrutiny of Epstein’s circle, detailing how Drokova and a colleague helped manage the financier’s media strategy during 2017 and 2018.
Byline Times found that Drokova—who later took the name Maria Bucher—and her business partner, Anastasia Shvetsova, provided consulting and media-relations services to Epstein through their firm, M&A PR Studio. The publication released screenshots of emails from July and August 2017 in which Drokova corresponded directly with Epstein, discussing the preparation of materials for HuffPost and identifying journalists who would be “convenient” for coverage. The communications suggested a sustained professional relationship rather than a brief interaction.
The report also noted that Drokova’s younger sister, Victoria, became involved in a project linked to Epstein’s inner circle. In 2016, Victoria co-founded the WE Talks initiative with Lana (Svetlana) Pozhidaeva, who served as an assistant to Epstein. Their collaboration began several years before Epstein’s 2019 arrest on charges of sexual exploitation of underage girls.
For many Russians, Maria Drokova is best remembered for a different moment: the 2009 Seliger youth forum, where she famously kissed Vladimir Putin during a staged interaction that drew nationwide attention. As the investigative outlet Important Stories has previously reported, Drokova rose quickly through the ranks of “Nashi,” holding senior roles between 2005 and 2011, including press secretary and federal commissioner.
After leaving the movement, she worked for the business empire of entrepreneur Sergey Belousov before relocating to the United States. There, she founded the venture-capital firm Day One Ventures and attempted to reposition herself as a global technology investor.
Her earlier professional associations, however, have resurfaced repeatedly. In 2022, The Washington Post reported that U.S. intelligence agencies suspected several Russian venture investors—including figures connected to Belousov—of facilitating technology transfers to Russia. Drokova was among those who had worked within his structures, though no accusations of wrongdoing were made against her personally.
Epstein, whose network has continued to draw international scrutiny years after his death, was arrested in July 2019 and charged with operating a sex-trafficking scheme involving underage girls. He died the following month in a Manhattan jail.
In November, Politico reported that Epstein had attempted in 2018 to relay information about Donald Trump to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, a disclosure that further underscored the financier’s extensive and often opaque political contacts.
The Byline Times investigation adds a new layer to those revelations, suggesting that Epstein’s efforts to manage his own public image extended into Russian political and business circles during his final years.
