Thread by @michaeldweiss

.@michaeldweiss obtains photographic evidence that in 2018 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was on official diplomatic business to Japan with his mistress, oligarch Oleg Deripaska — and a Russian sex worker | @newlinesmag newlinesmag.com/reportage/serg…

This photograph from Tokyo, taken in March 2018 while Lavrov was on state business, contains a few treats. You'll easily recognize Lavrov and Deripaska. Also perhaps Svetlana Polyakova, Lavrov's inexplicably wealthy mistress, whose daughter has been sanctioned by the UK.

Sandwiched between Russia's now-sanctioned top diplomat and the controversial oligarch is Ekaterina Lobanova. Who is she? Well, in line with Deripaska's preference for travel companions, she's a sex industry worker. We found one of her many, many photo spreads.

Also noteworthy is the fact that standing next to Polyakova is Angelo Koo, chairman of the China Development Foundation of Taiwan, a country with which Russia has no formal relations. And that's former oil-and-gas industrialist Gennady Rovner in the orange jacket in front.

You'll recall that Deripaska's former travel companion, "Nastya Rybka," accidentally filmed him discussing U.S.-Russian relations (and Toria Nuland!) with Russia's deputy PM Sergei Prikhodko aboard his yacht. This led to a famous @navalny investigation:

Lavrov has also been known to jet around the world with his interpreter, seen in the photo above and also here (at right) in a Soviet military hat alongside Maria Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry's fun-loving spokesperson.

Now you may inquire, as we did: What is Vladimir Putin's top diplomat doing in Japan on the Russian government's ruble with his mistress, a Taiwanese bigwig, a nefarious metals magnate implicated in Russia's U.S. election interference campaign, and a porn model?

We don't know very much about the trip, except that Lavrov took the opportunity while in Tokyo to harangue Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe about Sergei and Yulia Skripal, whom he falsely suggested were being held against their will in the UK.

We reached out to the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment. Zakharova "rejected" our request. 🫤

And please do spare a thought for intrepid OSINT investigator @christogrozev and how he suffers for his journalism.