A MODEL who was arrested over a naked photoshoot in Dubai has slammed a “total d**k” American playboy who allegedly forced her to pose nude and then posted the pictures on Instagram.
Irina Sotulenko, 23, is the first participant to speak about the shocking nude video and pictures and is now in detention in the United Arab Emirates.
Her lawyer and boyfriend have expressed “deep concern” about her and the other women who were expected to be deported back to Ukraine but still remain out of contact.
In audio and video messages sent to her boyfriend before she was detained, the model spoke of her anger at Vitaliy Grechin, 41, the wealthy Ukrainian-American who organised the stunt.
Irina criticised the man for allowing the racy images to go online leading to Dubai police detaining most of the group.
The nude model told how she had escaped to the airport to fly home, but was ordered by the authorities to go back to the city and make a statement to police, after which she would be free to leave.
But then she was held – and after one phone call to her parents she cannot be reached once again despite an apparent agreement with the Ukrainian authorities that she would be released today.
Families of the women still hope they can be freed tonight.
Grechin – seen in a picture playing the piano surrounded by 20 naked women – was detained soon after the balcony picture was taken in an elite complex in Dubai and posted online, she said.
He has been previously pictured with a string of famous names including Barack Obama – to whom he was a financial donor – Hillary Clinton, George Clooney and Sylvester Stallone.
“All this because of the morons who came up with the idea to upload this to Instagram,” said Irina.
“It is just… Vitaliy… Grechin… You are just a total d**k…
“He is an adult man, how could he be such an idiot?”
Irina claimed she had been “forced” to go on the balcony, otherwise they would not be paid for the modelling assignment.
She said: “I told them, guys, we are in Arab country, let’s not show off.
“But, damn, we were forced to this balcony, took pictures and God knows what will be next.
“They brought a professional photographer. Well Grechin also took pics by himself, but there was a photographer too.”
In a video message to her boyfriend, she told him: “We were forced to this balcony in another hotel. We were photographed naked on the balcony.
“Someone took photos from another building. Now Vitaly was summoned (to the police) and it looks like he will be sent to prison.”
Later she went to Dubai airport hoping to fly home but posted a message saying she had to return for a police interview.
In tears, she said: “Looks like we were told that they will sort this out. Like there are acquaintances in the police and all will be okay.”
She said she saw Grechin – the organiser and funder of the trip to Dubai – as he was “escorted away by police”.
Her boyfriend Vitaly, 30, who works in IT, said Irina knew she was going to Dubai for a nude shoot – but not that it would be in a public place leading to claims of indecency and offending public morals.
“They pushed them out onto the balcony,” he said.
“The girls began to be indignant, and asking why they were going there. They said: ‘This is a Muslim country, for this we will all have problems’.
“But they were told – ‘Do not forget who pays for it, please go to the balcony.’ So they went out onto the balcony and photographed them.”
Several hours later Grechin and others organising the bizarre shoot were detained after the pictures were posted online, he said.
Some of the girls were shocked and immediately bought tickets to fly out of the country.
Those who did not were told they would be allowed to leave, but first had to make a police statement, said Irina’s boyfriend.
However, they were apparently deceived as they were taken to prison when they returned to the hotel.
Vitaly said he had encouraged her to go on the trip which was a professional opportunity for his girlfriend.
He said: “She’s a great girl. She was invited there as a nude model, she went, I did not mind.”
Irina is a philologist, a graduate from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
Her lawyer in Kyiv, Oleksiy Nosov, a partner at Miller law firm, said her boyfriend and family have not heard from her since April 3.
They had been told they should be deported by today, but there have not been any updates about their release until now.
“The Consulate reported that one of the girls fell ill with coronavirus, she is kept separately, and this is not Irina,” he said.
The lawyer has asked for a “confidential conversation” with Irina, but had no response from the Dubai authorities.
But he said: “Yesterday Irina was able to call her parents for the first time. She said that she was in one piece and relatively healthy.
“The conditions in the cell are difficult. They are in a cell without telephones, and are not told the date of their deportation to Ukraine.”
