Family of former Epstein aide has close ties to Russian state structures, Explainer investigation finds

Svetlana Pozhidayeva, a former close aide to Jeffrey Epstein who later changed her name to Sofia Platt, comes from a family with close ties to Russian security services and state structures, an investigation by the Explainer project has found.

According to the report, Yury Pozhidayev, the father of Svetlana/Sofia, received his pension through the FSB, worked on Iranian projects for structures linked to Russian Railways and state-owned defense conglomerate Rostec, and sent correspondence to the pension department of the FSB Directorate for Moscow and the Moscow Region. Pozhidayeva’s mother, the investigation says, was affiliated at various times with structures tied to the Presidential Property Management Directorate, Lukoil, and an organization of veterans of the Military Institute of Foreign Languages.

In 2020, months after Epstein’s death, Svetlana Pozhidayeva obtained a new passport in the name of Sofia Platt while retaining identifiers such as her pension insurance number (СНИЛС) and taxpayer identification number (ИНН). She later left Russia for the United States. Explainer describes Pozhidayeva as a graduate of Moscow’s State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), noting that she had been close to Epstein since the 2010s — organizing his flights and, as the recently released “Epstein files” indicate, maintaining regular correspondence with him. The investigation also says that she changed her identity after the financier’s death and, under the name Sofia Platt, continued her career in the United States, where she participated in venture capital and fundraising projects.

According to reporting by The Wall Street Journal, Pozhidayeva claimed to be one of Epstein’s victims, allegedly assisting him under duress before changing her name to protect herself from renewed trauma and public accusations. Explainer stressed that it is not claiming proof of a Russian intelligence operation behind the late pedophile-financier’s activities, arguing instead that the Pozhidayeva family’s ties to Russian security and quasi-state circles warrant further attention.