As the mass release of judicial documents on Jeffrey Epstein increasingly implicates Western political, financial, and media elites, a particular idea is gaining traction in certain circles: that the scandal may ultimately have been an operation orchestrated from Moscow.
The hypothesis took on a political dimension when Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk publicly claimed it was “increasingly likely” that Russian intelligence services had co-organised Epstein’s sexual exploitation network as a classic kompromat operation. Warsaw even announced an official review of possible links between the American financier and Moscow—an unprecedented move following the latest declassification of millions of documents by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Those advancing this thesis point to several elements: the recurring presence of Russian women in Epstein’s circle, frequent references to Moscow in emails, mentions of the Russian president, and Epstein’s alleged willingness to facilitate contacts or visas in Russia. From there, some analysts and media outlets have constructed a narrative in which Epstein functioned as a tool to obtain compromising material on Western leaders.
What the documents do—and do not—show
A sober reading of the files, however, paints a far less dramatic picture. They show Epstein attempting to project influence, exaggerating contacts and cultivating an image of access to international power circles, including Russian ones. They do not prove that he ever met Vladimir Putin, nor that he acted under instructions from the Kremlin.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the allegation with open sarcasm: “I could make many jokes about this version, but it’s not worth wasting time.” Moscow insists it never received formal requests from Epstein and that most references to Russia in the files consist of press clippings or failed attempts to establish contact. Allies of the Russian president have described the narrative as a desperate attempt by liberal elites to divert attention from their own moral hypocrisy.
The Western establishment’s interest in “Russifying” the Epstein case did not emerge out of nowhere. Epstein’s network connected top-tier politicians, businessmen, academics, and media figures across the United States and Europe. The uncomfortable questions—who knew what, who looked the other way, who protected whom—point directly to the core of Western power structures.
In that context, shifting the focus to Moscow serves an old and familiar purpose: externalising blame. It is no coincidence that even figures such as Nigel Farage, a frequent critic of the Atlanticist consensus, have floated the Russian angle—an indication of how reflexive suspicion toward Putin has become in European politics.
