Liliana Leonidovna Gasinskaya (russian: Лилиана Леонидовна Гасинская; uk, Ліліана Леонідівна Гасинська, Liliana Leonidivna Hasynska, born July 21, 1960) is a woman who

defected In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state. More broadly, defection involves abandoning a person, ca ...

from the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

in 1979. On board a Soviet cruise ship, SS ''Leonid Sobinov'' (

Black Sea Shipping Company Black Sea Shipping Company (russian: Черноморское морское пароходство, uk, Чорноморське морське пароплавство) is a Ukrainian shipping company based in Kyiv. The company was established ...

), in

Sydney Harbour Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...

, Gasinskaya slipped out of a porthole wearing only a red bikini (earning her the nickname "The Girl in the Red Bikini"). She was born in 1960 in

Alchevsk Alchevsk ( uk, Алчéвськ, translit. ''Alchevs'k''; russian: Алчéвск) is a city of significance in the Luhansk Oblast of Ukraine. It is located approximately from the oblast capital, Luhansk. Alchevsk is one of the largest indus ...

Luhansk Oblast Luhansk Oblast ( uk, Луга́нська о́бласть, translit=Luhanska oblast; russian: Луганская область, translit=Luganskaya oblast; also referred to as Luhanshchyna, uk, Луга́нщина) is the easternmost oblast ...

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

to a musician father and actress mother, but later moved to

Odesa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrative ...

. When Gasinskaya was 14, she decided to attempt to leave the USSR and thus graduated from the Odesa Marine Tourism Service Vocational School with the qualification of a ship waitress. She was then assigned to work at the

. She became a cleaner on the ''Leonid Sobinov.'' After swimming ashore in the evening of January 14, 1979, she was sheltered by Bill Green, a photographer at Sydney University. Gasinskaya was later nearly apprehended by staff from the Soviet embassy, but managed to hide from them with the help of journalists from ''

The Daily Mirror ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

,'' which subsequently interviewed her. A debate ensued over whether then Immigration Minister

Michael MacKellar Michael John Randal MacKellar (27 October 1938 – 9 May 2015) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Liberal Party and served in the House of Representatives from 1969 to 1994, representing the Division of Warringah. He was M ...

should grant Gasinskaya asylum or deport her, as was customary for other ship deserters. Despite her unspecified claims of repression, which one commentator sneered may have been "the shops in Russia are boring", she was allowed to remain. She later earned $15,000 as the first nude centerfold in Australia's edition of ''

Penthouse Penthouse most often refers to: *Penthouse apartment, a special apartment on the top floor of a building *Penthouse (magazine), ''Penthouse'' (magazine), a British-founded men's magazine *Mechanical penthouse, a floor, typically located directly u ...

'' magazine.

References

External links

* Eduard Anriushchenko.
A girl in red bikini. Declassified KGB case (Дівчина в червоному бікіні. Розсекречена справа КГБ)
'. Istorychna Pravda (

Ukrayinska Pravda ''Ukrainska Pravda'' ( uk, Українська правда, lit=Ukrainian Truth) is a Ukrainian online newspaper founded by Georgiy Gongadze on 16 April 2000 (the day of the Ukrainian constitutional referendum). Published mainly in Ukraini ...

). 10 December 2020. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gasinskaya, Liliana 1960 births Living people People from Alchevsk Komsomol Refugees in Australia Soviet emigrants to Australia Soviet escapees Ukrainian emigrants to Australia