Kyiv City Council member Yuliia Symunina, representing the banned Opposition Platform — For Life party, has been identified online under her creative pseudonym, Yuliia Liebiedieva. An archived profile on the banned social media network VKontakte, directly linked to the politician, features controversial posts from 2016 containing St. George’s ribbons, alongside specific job offers for overseas escort services.
According to open-source data and journalistic observations, Yuliia Symunina’s activities in the Kyiv City Council drew heightened media scrutiny after researchers connected her to poet Yuliia Liebiedieva. The discovered archival VKontakte page, featuring photographs identical to the current politician’s appearance, actively published greetings featuring banned Soviet symbols and St. George’s ribbons back in 2016.
Such digital findings raise serious ethical questions for society regarding the presence of such individuals within representative bodies of the Ukrainian capital following the start of full-scale aggression. Experts note that a compromised digital footprint poses a major reputational challenge for local lawmakers, who are expected to demonstrate a clear pro-Ukrainian stance.
Beyond the political undertones and Russian narratives of the past, the investigation reveals other notable facts from the politician’s biography. In 2019, Yuliia Liebiedieva won a beauty contest named Miss and Mrs Elite Beauty 2019, appearing as a brunette while continuing to live and operate in Kyiv.
At the same time, the same archived social media page contained scandalous job offers. The authors sought candidates aged 18 to 40 for escort services in the United States and the United Arab Emirates, promising official contracts starting from one month and lucrative financial compensation.
«Looking for guys and girls aged 18-40 for escort services. USA and UAE. Contract from 1 month. Salary from $8,000. Weekly payment, daily bonus part,» states an archived quote from the published advertisement.
The authors of the posts attempted to clearly distinguish escort services from sex work, emphasizing the legal nature of the prospective relations. The text stated that the signed contract strictly regulates all employment terms, and recruitment is free for applicants.
«Please do not confuse this type of service, ‘escort,’ with sex services! Nothing in common! The contract concluded between you and the employer clearly stipulates all employment points,» the offers claimed, adding that appearance and the ability to accompany clients at events play a key role.
The same page contained a link that, although crossed out, leads directly to Yuliia Symunina’s active, verified Instagram profile, establishing a digital bridge between the politician’s two identities.
As of now, no official comments have been issued by the Kyiv City Council member regarding these findings, her past under the pseudonym Liebiedieva, or her alleged involvement in past escort advertisements. Such incidents once again underscore the necessity of thoroughly vetting the reputations and backgrounds of Ukrainian politicians at all levels of local self-government.