Katia
Zatuliveter, 25, an aide to a Liberal Democrat on the parliamentary defense
committee, was detained in December on suspicion of espionage and now faces
possible deportation.
Following
the footsteps of Russian spy Anna Chapman, who has risen to media stardom at
home following her deportation from the United States last year, she is now in
talks to work at a Russian English-language news channel.
“We are
interested in working with Katia Zatuliveter, and she is aware of that,” said
Margarita Simonyan, Editor-in-Chief of state-owned RT channel, said in a
statement. “We will have more details when we complete our negotiations with
Katia.”
Her
detention, as well as Russia’s temporary refusal to allow entry to a British
reporter for the London-based Guardian newspaper, has hit Russian-British
relations ahead of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s visit to London on Monday.
Russia
has dismissed British accusations of espionage as “paranoid spymania.” Russia’s
charge d’affairs at the Russian embassy said she had been detained on immigration
law violations, but added she had been legally residing in Britain.
The
Russian foreign ministry has said she is under house arrest in Britian.
Chapman,
now a celebrity in Russia, has posed in lingerie, attended a space launch and
had a sing-along with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin since her return. Last
month she launched her own weekly TV show, “Mysteries of the World with Anna
Chapman.”
