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A top model whojumped to her death from her Wall Street apartment building had previously been one of the teen girls flown to Jeffrey Epstein’s private island, newly unsealed court documents show.
Ruslana Korshunova — who featured in ads for Marc Jacobs, DKNY, Vera Wang, and Nina Ricci perfume — was just 18 when she was a passenger on the since-deceased pedophile’s so-called Lolita Express on June 7, 2006, previously released flight logs show.
The trip to Epstein’s Little St. James was almost exactly two years before the Kazakh-Russian IMG model leaped to her death from her ninth-floor balcony.
Her ex-boyfriend told The Post at the time that the model had problems that she kept “bottled up.”
Korshunova’s trip to Epstein’s island was just weeks before the moneyman was arrested in 2006 and later convicted of sex with underage girls.
He was listed as being with her on the flight, along with three of his staffers — bodyguard Igor Zinoviev, personal chef Lance Calloway, and longtime assistant Sarah Kellen.
There was also a woman identified as Stephanie Tidwell — and an unidentified former UFC fighter.
It is unclear what happened when Korshunova arrived on the island, where Epstein was known to sexually exploit underage girls — allegedly at times with some big-name friends.
Several years after her tragic death, Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre’s attorney emailed her asking whether she knew Korshunova, the latest documents unsealed Thursday show.
“I think it’s a long shot you would recognize her, but read the article I attached and then look at the pictures and see if you recognize her,” attorney Brad Edwards wrote in the newly unsealed 2011 email, attaching a link to a Newsweek report on the model’s death.
But Giuffre replied: “I am sorry to hear the news of Ruslana, and my condolences are with her family and friends.
“I can say that I have never had any meetings with her, sorry not to be of any help there.”
Follow along with everything we’ve found out about Jeffrey Epstein and his associates.
Korshunova died at the age of 20, after cutting a hole in construction mesh covering her ninth-floor balcony, squeezing through it, and jumping.
“I heard what sounded like a gunshot or a bomb or an explosion,” said a stunned Con Ed worker talking to a cop nearby.
“I looked down the street, and I say to the cop, ‘Did that person just get hit by a car?’ ” said the worker, who identified himself only as Patrick, of Brooklyn.
The two men raced over. “Her arms were crushed,” Patrick said. “Her head was on the left side and blood was coming out in a pool.”
It was later revealed that Korshunova left long messages describing how she missed her home and family and talked about problems with her love life.
She had also lost a lot of weight in the month before her death and had trouble balancing her personal life and her demanding work schedule, her ex-boyfriend told The Post at the time.
“I think she just gave up,” said Artem Perchenok, who was with the model on the last night of her short life.
He added that Korshunova kept her problems “bottled up.”
“When a job would go bad, she’d take it out on herself.”
What we know about the Jeffrey Epstein list of 170 associates
- On Wednesday, documents were released naming 170 associates of accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. The list included Michael Jackson, magician David Copperfield, Stephen Hawking, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and former President Bill Clinton — who an Epstein victim said “likes them young, referring to girls.”
- Disgraced royal Prince Andrew, a known friend of Epstein, was named in the documents and was previously sued by Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre, who accused Andrew of sexual misconduct toward her. According to one royal family expert, the Firm “will stand beside” the Duke of York “no matter what.”
- Epstein’s former attorney and friend Alan Dershowitz defended the late multimillionaire sex offender’s associates, saying: “None of us knew about his private life that he kept so secret.” Dershowitz, who is on the list, added that no one should be automatically convicted in the court of public opinion simply for showing up in court documents.
- Epstein’s brother, Mark Epstein, told The Post that the ex-business mogul said he could have upended the 2016 election over what he knew about both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton: “Here’s a direct quote: ‘If I said what I know about both candidates, they’d have to cancel the election.’ That’s what Jeffrey told me in 2016.”
- Only some of the 170 names and their relationships to Epstein have been released. The remainder of the documents will likely become public record throughout the next week.
She had recently told her manager “she didn’t know what to do with her life,” Perchenok said.
Korshunova, a green-eyed beauty known as “The Russian Rapunzel” for her long, flowing chestnut locks, was discovered in 2003 when a booker from London-based Models 1, Debbie Jones, noticed her in a feature about the model’s hometown of Almaty, Kazakhstan.
“She looked like something out of a fairytale!” Jones told British Vogue. Soon after, the 17-year-old beauty was hailed as the next big thing, gracing runways at Fashion Week wearing Jill Stuart, Betsey Johnson, and other designers.
She was working with elite modeling agency IMG, which boasts clients like Heidi Klum and Kate Moss, at the time of her death.
It is unclear how or when she met Epstein, but the year she got on board the pervert’s private jet marked the peak of her career — that winter, she would be the cover star of the New York Times Style magazine.
It is also unclear what, if any, effect the trip may have had on the model.
But a 2014 book by author and academic Peter Pomerantsev noted that Korshunova decided to join a controversial “self-help group” which its critics have called a cult.
Pomerantsev wrote in his book, “Nothing is True and Everything is Possible: The Surreal Heart of the New Russia,” that Korshunova was driven to the Rose of the World after her modeling career took a hit.
At the time, Pomerantsev said, Korshunova was also left broken-hearted after an oligarch — who was only identified in the book as “Alexander” — dumped her.
She then returned to New York, where she fell in love with a Russian luxury car dealer — but he too left her.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.
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