Afrasianet - On January 30, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice released more than 3 million documents in the case known in the media as the "Epstein Files," some of which had a direct connection to Ukraine.
The files linked to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein include email conversations with at least two fashion agencies in Ukraine, travel arrangements for women from Kyiv and Odessa, reservation arrangements at the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Kyiv, a plan to buy property in Lviv, and a discussion of the political landscape in Ukraine during the 2019 presidential election.
Zelenskyy's name has been mentioned dozens of times in Jeffrey Epstein's declassified files, and on one occasion there was talk about the presidential election in Ukraine in 2019, where participants in the debate questioned the ability of the new president (Zelenskyy) to run the country.
Again, Zelenskyy's name was mentioned in the context of human trafficking.
In 2019, some email conversations began focusing on the ongoing presidential campaign in Ukraine in which then-President Petro Poroshenko was running against Zelensky.
In May 2019, Epstein sent a letter to an anonymous person presumably a Ukrainian woman, asking her to "follow" Ukrainian politics including the Zelensky cases, parliament and corruption.
The letter hinted that this would contribute to the person's "success" in the future, and the woman replied that follow-up would be interesting.
Epstein responded with a thought-provoking comment, noting that it wasn't just fun and apparently encouraging her to engage in corruption, saying, "Yes, it's funny but it's sophisticated corruption. You will make a lot of money. It's a lot. I would like to see you a rich businesswoman," while one interviewer said politics would turn into a farce after the presidential election.
In another email, a dispatcher whose name was withheld on June 10, 2019 wrote that he would "visit Zelensky next Thursday," and the conversation included former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.
Epstein and then-Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajček discussed Zelenskyy's victory over Poroshenko, writing: "How do you view the Ukrainian elections?".
"The Russians hate Poroshenko, so this might be useful to help solve the problem," Laiczak said. But I have no idea if Zelensky is capable of running the country."
"Inexperienced players may need guidance and this seems like a perfect place for your intervention," Epstein said, to which Lajchuk replied: "I'm trying."
Beyond politics, Ukraine and Kyiv in particular have been under Epstein's microscope, with attention focused on real estate and modeling agencies.
According to the documents, two Kyiv-based modeling agencies were mentioned in documents released by the US Department of Justice, and the agencies "Linea 12 Models" and "L-Models" were founded in the 1990s and are still operating today.
In one email, a dispatcher whose name was withheld told Epstein that Linea 12 Models and L-Models were "the best in Kyiv, and that if he needed any other small agencies, he would find contacts, but most of all cheap escort services.
Masha Maniuk, 58, a former Ukrainian model and TV presenter, has been running Linea 12 Models for nearly 30 years.
The same theme included photos of women, where an unnamed person chooses the women they admire.
In a separate message, Epstein shares the contact information of Yulia Kiselyeva, who has about 400 girls for Kyiv-based modeling and wedding agencies.
In emails dated October 2010, Masha Maniuk's contact with Jean-Luc Brunel, a French model agent and longtime partner of Epstein, who was accused of child rape and sexual harassment was found dead in his Paris prison cell in February 2022.
In the exchange of emails, Maniuk and Brunel discussed a contract with a Ukrainian model Brunel had previously met in Paris.
The discussion centered on organizing her trip to the United States to explore the possibility of cooperation.
Manyuk writes that the model will return to Ukraine and asks about the best time for her to arrive in New York, the duration of the trip, who will send the acting contract, and Brunel forwards the correspondence to Epstein.
Maniuk says she has known Brunel for 20 years, adding that he opened the Ukrainian branch of the French agency Karen Models and visited Ukraine once a year, or every few years, for talent hunts.
"I didn't know Epstein or his relationship with Brunel," she said. It was very strange for me because I had been seeing Brunel for so many years, and there was not the slightest hint at all."
Brunel was accused of sexual assault in the late 1980s, early 2000s, and the late 2000s.
The emails also include the names and photos of several Ukrainian women, including models, as well as planning dozens of round-trip flights to and from Kyiv and Odessa.
