Anna Chapman's first television interview (one hour talk show video)

Anna Chapman, the almost stereotypical "Bond girl”, accused of spying for the Russian government appeared on Russian talk show “Пусть говорят” (Let Them Talk). The 60 minutes episode “Let them talk. New Year with a girl of the year” was dedicated to Anna Chapman and featured her mother, sister, grandmother, school teachers, friends and her first love.

Watch online "Let them talk. New Year with a girl of the year"
Anna Chapman full video (1 hour,  Russian language)

Anna Chapman also starred in a parody of a popular Soviet spy film.

Anna Chapman, June 2010. Photo via wikimedia

Anna Vasil’yevna Chapman (Russian: А́нна Васи́льевна Ча́пман; born Anna Vasil’yevna Kushchyenko Russian: А́нна Васи́льевна Кущенко; February 23, 1982) is a Russian national, who while living in New York, United States was arrested along with nine others on June 27, 2010, on suspicion of working for the Illegals Program spy ring under the Russian Federation's external intelligence agency, the SVR (Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki). Chapman pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the U.S. Attorney General, and was deported back to Russia on July 8, 2010, as part of the 2010 Russia–United States Prisoner Swap.

Chapman was born Anna Vasil’yevna Kushchyenko in Volgograd, according to US authorities, and her father was employed in the Russian embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. According to Chapman's British ex-husband, her father, Vasily Kushchenko, was also a senior KGB official, although this is unsubstantiated.Biography

London: 2001-2006

Chapman moved to London in 2000/1, working at NetJets, Barclays Bank and allegedly at a few other companies for brief periods.

She met Alex Chapman at a London Docklands rave party in 2001 and they married shortly thereafter in Moscow; as a result she gained dual Russian-British citizenship, and a British passport. After Anna was arrested in New York, Alex engaged media publicist Max Clifford, and sold his story to The Daily Telegraph newspaper.

New York: 2006-2010

She took up residence at 20 Exchange Place, one block from Wall Street in Manhattan's Financial District.Alex has stated that Anna told him the enterprise was continually in the red for the first couple of years, and then suddenly in 2009, she had as many as 50 employees and a successful business. Her LinkedIn social networking site profile identified her as CEO of PropertyFinder LLC, a website selling real estate internationally.

She is reported to have been dating Michel Bittan, a prominent New York restaurant owner. She later described her time in the US with the Charles Dickens quote, "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times".

International exchange

After being formally charged, Chapman and nine other detainees became part of a spy swap deal between the US and Russia, the biggest of its kind since 1986. The 10 Russian agents returned to Russia via a chartered jet that landed at Vienna International Airport, where the swap occurred on the morning of July 8. The Russian jet returned to Moscow's Domodedovo airport, where after landing the 10 spies were kept away from local and international press.

Russia: 2010-incumbent

Late December 2010 Chapman was appointed to the public council of Young Guard of United Russia. According to the organization she "will be engaged in educating young people".

Media coverage and popular reaction

After her arrest by the FBI for her involvement with the Illegals Program, Chapman gained overnight minor celebrity status while under custody. The media dubbed her the "flame-haired beauty", "femme fatale", "the modern day Bond girl" and "the stunning SoHo spy". Photos of Chapman taken from her Facebook profile appeared on the web, and several videos of her were uploaded to Youtube.
Magazines and blogs detailed her fashion style and dress sense, while tabloids displayed her action figure dolls. Chapman was described by local media in New York as a regular of exclusive bars and restaurants. US Vice-President Joe Biden, when jokingly asked by Jay Leno on NBC's Tonight Show with Jay Leno, "Do we have any spies that hot?", replied in a mock serious tone, "Let me be clear. It was not my idea to send her back."

According to the news agency Interfax, effective 1 October 2010 Chapman is employed as an adviser on investment and innovation issues to the President of FundserviceBank, a Moscow bank that handles payments on behalf of state- and private-sector enterprises in the Russian aerospace industry.

Source: wiki
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