A flop as a spy, Anna Chapman, the daughter of diplomat Vasily Kushchyenko, is now seeking to reinvent herself as a television celebrity in Russia. Chapman was one of ten Russian spies arrested last July in the United States, after gathering little in the way of useful intelligence.

 

Following her return to Russia as part of a swap of agents between Washington and Moscow, Chapman worked her connections with President Vladimir Putin (also a former spy) and Alina Kabayeva, the former Olympic rhythmic gymnastics champion who is now chairman of the oversight board of the National Media Group. She wound up landing her own TV show, “Secrets of the World with Anna Chapman,” which is part of a new documentary series on Russia’s Kremlin-friendly REN-TV, owned by the National Media Group.

 

Promising to solve mysteries, Chapman did little of that on her first show. The first episode dealt with a Muslim boy who claimed that verses of the Qur’an appeared on his body.

 

One critic, Artyom Troitsky, told Radio Free Europe: “I wouldn’t say she’s especially popular. I think most people have a very ironic opinion of her. The perception is that she’s like a new favorite toy of Vladimir Putin. So because of that, all kinds of people—the media, bankers—they try to shower her with all kinds of favors, because they think that she’s Putin's toy girl.”

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Is There Life After Espionage? For Anna Chapman, Yes—And Celebrity, Too (by Daisy Sindelar, Radio Free Europe)

Anna Chapman TV Show: Review (by Andew Osborn, The Telegraph)

U.S. Confirms Successful Exchange of Spies (CBS/AP)