RED-HAIRED Russian glamour spy Anna Chapman is back in the world of espionage with a new mission from Moscow.
The infamous former spy has been appointed head of the Museum of Russian Intelligence, a new project linked to Putin’s top secret service.
The 43-year-old, once a UK citizen, is now using the name Anna Romanova.
This is her latest alias in a life that could have come straight out of a spy thriller.
Chapman became known to the wider public in 2010 when she was arrested by the FBI in New York as part of a Russian sleeper cell.
She was later expelled from the US in a swap deal that saw double agent Sergei Skripal head to Britain.
Years later, Skripal was poisoned in Salisbury in an attack heavily linked to the Russian government.
Chapman’s new museum is registered near Gorky Park in Moscow, at the press office of the Russian Foreign Intelligence service (SVR).
The SVR is the ex-KGB spy agency that employed her as a foreign agent
The museum is expected to showcase the history and achievements of Russian espionage, highlighting the country’s intelligence operations against the West.
Chapman’s rise to fame began in London, where she used her charm to move in powerful circles of business figures, politicians and oligarchs.
It was there that she was recruited by a London-based Russian agent who was impressed by networking skills.
She had become a British citizen after marrying Alex Chapman, though the relationship ended badly.
Chapman – now dead – once tried to kill her with a power drill.
In a book published last year, Chapman portrays herself as a real-life female 007, claiming her looks and confidence gave her access to the highest levels of influence.
She wrote: “I knew the effect I had on men.
“Nature had generously endowed me with the necessary attributes: a slim waist, a full chest, a cascade of red hair.
“All I needed was to emphasise it – which I did with simple yet sexy outfits, light makeup, and an effortless air about me.
“Most importantly, I didn’t try too hard to please.”
“And it worked like magic.”
Her memoir tells stories of luxury trips, lavish parties and encounters with the rich and powerful.
One particular excerpt tells how she landed a job at a hedge fund in London after winning a game of strip poker.
But it remains silent on any British secrets she might have passed to Moscow before her arrest.
Neither does it say anything about either the influential member of the House of Lords and a British tycoon she is believed to have befriended during her time here.
Since being handed over to Russia, Chapman has reinvented herself as a businesswoman, TV presenter and social media personality.
She is a strong supporter of Vladimir Putin and has even become a mother to a baby boy.
Now she is back in the public eye with a job that once again ties her to Russia’s shadowy world of intelligence.
The SVR is currently headed by Sergey Naryshkin, a close ally of the Russian president.
