Russian student moonlights as call girl in Singapore

SINGAPORE: With her porcelain-smooth skin, sharp features, lively blue eyes and tall, slim physique, 26-year-old Anna from Moscow could have made a living strutting down the catwalk in Russia.

However, the very idea made her laugh. Speaking in near-perfect English, she said “there are too many model wannabes in Russia who are poorly paid”.

Instead, the business graduate, who said she is studying English here, moonlights as a prostitute, charging between S$600 (RM1,850) an hour and S$1,500 (RM4,630) for an overnight rendezvous.

“It’s safe here and you can make good money in a short time. I hope to ‘make it’ in six months and leave to open a restaurant in Indonesia,” she said.

But the heat is on for women like Anna. Last week, the police busted a Russian vice ring and arrested four women – three from Russia and one from Uzbekistan.

The syndicate, which police described as a “high-class Russian vice ring”, allegedly advertised sexual services on websites such as Yelp, Skokka, Locanto and Backpage.

This reporter was introduced to Anna by a man familiar with the escort scene, and spoke to her for about an hour in the Orchard area.

Anna said Singapore is an adventure for her and that for now, “I believe in trying everything life has to offer”.

Dressed in a figure-hugging bustier and stilettos, she said she decided to leave Moscow because of the cold climate and the low value of the rouble, the Russian currency.

The tall blonde said she has no boyfriend or responsibilities back home, although she does send money to her family.

She said her family would like her to be an artist as she has a talent for drawing and painting, but she said she cannot make such a living in Moscow.

Anna, who has a bubbly personality, also gave up trying to make it as a singer there after several tries.

Her ideal life, she said, is anywhere that has a beach, where her dream restaurant will be located.

She plans to finance the project with her lucrative work here while staying on as a full-time student.

“I work and live alone here. I have no agent,” she said.

For the past month, her home has been a S$3,000-a-month (RM9,270) studio apartment, a 10-minute walk from the heart of Orchard Road.

She works the ground twice a week by frequenting a few Orchard Road clubs popular with men seeking foreign prostitutes.

In a bad week, she can earn at least S$5,000 (RM15,500), she said. The most she has made in a week is slightly over S$11,000 (RM34,000).

Her clients are typically middleaged Singaporean men and foreigners on business trips.

“It’s always a gamble as you don’t know who you’re meeting for the night. I have stayed in lavish hotels and sometimes, for quick calls, in budget ones,” she said.

Anna added that most Russian escorts who visit Singapore do so as part of a circuit of places like Macau, Dubai and Malaysia.

According to her, the women stay in apartments around Kim Keat and Balestier. They are cared for by minders with links to the Russian groups that helped them get to Singapore. The minders also take a cut of their incomes.

“They come on social visit passes. They work harder as they need to get more business before their time here runs out,” she said.

But being too visible and greedy can be dangerous.

“You don’t want to attract unwanted attention in this line of work,” she said, adding that she does not cut classes despite her latenight escapades.

But before I could ask her any more questions, Anna said my time was up. She thanked me and quickly disappeared in the direction of an Orchard Road nightclub.

You don’t want to attract unwanted attention in this line of work.

Anna