14 year old model who died in China. Death contract: Russian girl model dies in China from exhaustion and slave conditions

In Perm, an investigation into the death of a Permian schoolgirl in China has begun. The 14-year-old model left for Shanghai for three months to participate in fashion shows and filming. On October 25, the girl felt bad at the rehearsal. On the same day, she was hospitalized with a high temperature, and on the night of the 27th, the young model died.

Details of the story of the tragic death of a Perm schoolgirl are in the material "AiF-Prikamye".

Help is needed

Just a week ago, the media wrote about the Perm model, which is participating in shows in Shanghai. The minor beauty shared her impressions and talked about her plans for the future.

And on October 25, Elvira Zaitseva, director of the Great Model modeling agency, posted a request for help on her page. She reported that a 14-year-old model, who participated in the Paul Frank fashion show in China, was hospitalized, and said that she was in an emergency fundraiser so that the mother could go to her daughter.

“Vlada is in a difficult condition so far. The doctors are doing their best. She's in intensive care on life support. We are praying for recovery."

And in the morning it turned out that the girl had died.

Lightning infection or overwork?

After it became known about the death of the girl, information surfaced that the schoolgirl complained to her mother about overwork and fatigue. The girl participated in shows, starred for catalogs. However, the cause of death was an infection, not fatigue.

The first version of the cause of death is fulminant meningitis. It was this diagnosis that Chinese doctors called the shocked family of the girl.

A little later, the Russian Consulate General in Shanghai announced a more complete diagnosis: multiple organ failure against the background of sepsis and an infectious lesion of the nervous system.

However, the doctors will be able to name the final cause of death only after the autopsy. It will be held when they get permission from mom.

“The mother of the child is in Russia, without her consent, an autopsy cannot be performed. She will arrive, and we will consider the possibility of autopsy and finding out the final causes of the girl’s death, ”Consul Andrei Kulikov told RIA Novosti reporters.

Now the girls help their relatives to prepare the necessary documents for leaving.

According to the Global Times, the Chinese modeling agency for which the girl worked denies the fact that the Perm woman was overtired during work.

The CEO of the agency, in an interview with the publication, claims that the 14-year-old girl had regular breaks from work. He also reports that compared to other models, the schoolgirl had a moderate load.

"Unrelenting Pain"

Mom brought her daughter into the modeling business just two years ago. High growth (about 180 cm) and beautiful appearance allowed the girl to quickly achieve high results.

The schoolgirl studied in the Perm modeling studio, began acting for glossy magazines, and participated in shows.

The girl has an older brother who plays sports. And in the spring, a younger sister was also born.

On the girl’s Instagram, her friends leave numerous messages: “I can’t believe that you are no more”, “You were the most cheerful and bright girl”, “Why do the best ones leave?” and so on.

It was originally planned that the relatives would fly to China on November 1. But the other day, the girl's uncle, her mother's brother, died. So the departure date is not yet known.

Parental Responsibility

Pavel Mikov, the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Kama region, believes that the girl's parents are to blame for the incident.

“First of all, I express my condolences to the family, the death of a child is always a great tragedy. At the same time, it can already be said that the sphere of legal relations between minors and various organizations that use child labor has not been regulated in fact. In the case of a Permian girl who left for China under a contract, she herself could not conclude it, the decision is made by her parents, they are also responsible for this decision. Unfortunately, not all parents are aware of the measure of responsibility that they give at the mercy of essentially strangers, agreeing to such contracts. I have already expressed my opinion about the ambiguity of the participation of young girls in beauty contests, I think these are problems of one legal field, ”says Pavel Mikov.

According to the Ombudsman, legislators now need to look for options on how to protect children from such risks.

Modeling is hard work

“Underage models often come to work abroad. This is in the modeling business in the order of things: the sooner you start driving, the better for your career. When I was in Asia, 16-17-year-old Russian girls lived with me in the apartment. In general, there are a lot of minors. This is basically a young industry, the earlier you start, the better. Girls from my agency flew to Japan, for example, from the age of 13.

Very young models usually start their careers this way - with trips to Asia. There they gain experience, collect pictures for a portfolio. Money there, as a rule, is on the sidelines, ”says Elena Zotova, model, ex-booker of the Andy fiord models agency.

According to Elena, working conditions in China are quite harsh. Shooting can take place for several hours in a row.

“You can work from morning to evening on the set of some catalog. It's sometimes tougher than it looks. Of course, it cannot be compared with professions that are directly related to physical labor. But sometimes you can come to the studio early in the morning and until late at night, like a robot, change from one outfit to another to shoot a photo for a whole catalog,” says Elena Zotova.

Moreover, no one makes discounts for the age of models. Some girls come with their relatives. But not all mothers have this opportunity.

“In fact, what a girl does in another country should be controlled by a booker (the manager of her modeling agency). It's official. But in fact, of course, it is sometimes difficult to keep track of what is happening with each model. There are girls who go to parties more often than work,” says Elena Zotova.

Total check

Investigators of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee for the Perm Territory began an investigation. They have already visited a modeling agency in Perm, where the girl worked, and requested medical documents from China.

Investigators will have to check the conditions under which the schoolgirl worked and why she went to work abroad without being accompanied by her parents.

Chinese law enforcement agencies have also launched an investigation.

The death of a young model will make parents think, whose children are engaged in areas that involve tight employment and frequent travel. After all, first of all, a child should have a childhood.

It is simply impossible to read such news without tears and angry emotions! A 14-year-old girl who had just started her professional and, perhaps, very successful path in the modeling business, so tragically passed away. On October 27, Vlada Dzyuba, a Russian model from Perm, died in Shanghai due to acute meningitis, which developed against the background of extreme exhaustion of the body. For some time, the girl complained to her mother on the phone about fatigue and total loss of strength. As the Russian media write, irregular working hours, a tough schedule and neglect by the employer, the inability to eat normally and lack of rest, and led to the fact that Vlada simply fell off her feet.

The girl came to China in the spring of 2017, where she went to work under a contract with Esee Model Management: according to representatives of this agency, it was the sending party that was supposed to provide Vlad with the required insurance. Who was the very sending party is still unknown. Vlada's mom says that the last few days she almost cried into the phone and said that she really wants to sleep. But she had neither the time nor the opportunity to seek medical help: on the eve of her death, the model participated in a 13-hour shoot for some jewelry brand and the next day she simply could not get up. With a temperature of 40, she was finally hospitalized, but it was too late. Vlada passed away on October 27 in a Shanghai hospital.

14-year-old model from Perm Vlada Dziuba

Why did the representatives of the agency remain so indifferent to the health of the girl? Why do they deliberately arrange such shooting "marathons" fraught with fatal consequences? Why didn’t they feed normally and didn’t give the proper rest? Why is working in China a hell for a model? We addressed these questions to the Ukrainian top model Polina Boyd, who, as an insider, knows the whole truth about modeling in Asia. Read, repost and do not remain indifferent! As long as we ignore this, such situations will become normal, and the girls will continue to risk their own lives and remain silent.

Polina Boyd, Ukrainian top model

After reading the news about the death of a 14-year-old model in China, everyone was shocked. All except models that worked in China.

And despite the fact that Vlada, based on information in the media, suffered from chronic meningitis, the “last straw”, which led to her death, I think it was her fatigue and complete exhaustion of the body.

Many girls from the most early years dream of becoming a model. But not everyone has the right idea about this profession. Leafing through the pages of glossy magazines, it seems that there is nothing easier than to stand and smile at the camera. But not everything is so simple.

I started my modeling career back in 2004. I just turned 16 when I won the "Chance.Model.ua" contest in my native Kherson. It was there that I was noticed by my first mother agency. After a couple of test shoots, I signed a contract with them (or rather my father did, because I was underage). This agency, let's call it X, collaborated with many agencies around the world, in particular in Asia, where, according to them, they could make good money.

Polina Boyd: this is how she was when she started her modeling career

After some negotiations, they found me an agency in Hong Kong, where I flew when I was still a child. To say that you grow up fast on such trips is an understatement. I was 16, I did not know English, I did not know anything about the modeling business, and then I found myself thousands of kilometers from my mother, among people who speak a language I do not know!

I was settled alone in an apartment that looked more like a doll box. When leaving the toilet, I hit my feet on the bed! On the very first day, they gave me my book (portfolio) and a map with the address of the castings in my hands and said: “Go!”. I left the agency and burst into tears, I didn’t know where to go, how to get to the castings, where to buy food.

In general, in the first month I lost weight terribly, because. I ate one hamburger a day (that's all I had enough money for).

On the first trip, I did not manage to earn money, because. I had to fly away before the end of my contract (I had to be in time for the final of Shans.Model.ua).

My mother agency X was not very happy with me and the fact that I did not earn anything from them, so immediately after the end of the school year, they decided to send me to Taiwan. And then my hell began.

All the girls lived in the same hotel, not far from the agency.

In order to pay less, we were settled in twos, and sometimes threes in one room. That is, sorry, you share a bed with a complete stranger to you, and no one cares if your neighbor suits you.

Polina lost a lot of weight while working in Taiwan, 2006

15-20 castings per day. But in Taipei (the capital of Taiwan), as well as in China, where the deceased Vlada Dziuba worked, the manager of your agency takes you to castings, who sits in the front seat and periodically checks that you don’t eat anything in the back seat, because. how so, you're a model and should lose weight!

Every Friday, all models are measured at the agency, and if you have gained at least half a kilogram, or half a centimeter, they will cut your “pocket money” (cash advance that the agency gives the girl for a week). For a week they usually give 100-150 dollars, which is never enough, because. you have to pay your own fare to work (if you have a shoot), and provide yourself with food for a week.

That is, you can drink a bottle of water before measuring, and +500 g will be reflected on the scales, and that’s it: they will shout at you, bring you to tears, call you a “cow”, say that you need to lose weight and give you less money. Who doesn’t know: vegetables and fruits in Asia are insanely expensive and cost much more than Snickers and chocolate, so there is no logic here, as in everything the Chinese do!

After such moral pressure from the agency (no logical explanations that it is water, or that you just ate, do not work): of course, against this background, any teenager stops eating at all!

Two weeks later, when you, as requested, lost weight, during the measurements they tell you that, they say, all your clothes are falling off, all the clients are complaining, you need to get better.

A complete mess will begin in anyone's head. Wait, wait, exactly two weeks ago you told me to lose weight, and now you are saying that I need to get better??? Where is the logic???

Pauline Boyd during filming in Taiwan: this is what she looked like in 2006

Now about working in China or Taiwan

If they like you at castings, then they start booking you for filming and shows.

I had a case when I had 10 shoots in a week!!! Each of which lasted 9 hours, sometimes with overtime. That is, 3 days a week I had two shootings a day. You can calculate for yourself, it's 9 and 9 hours, 18 hours of filming comes out. There are 6 hours for sleep, respectively, plus travel from the studio home, in general, if you sleep for 4 hours, consider yourself lucky!

I'll tell you more about how the shooting itself goes.

Call time (shooting start time) can sometimes be at 4-5 in the morning. That is, you, still a minor teenager, need to wake up in the middle of the night, somehow, not to wake your neighbor sleeping next to you, get ready, call a taxi and get to the studio or to the location (shooting location: park, some street, mountains, etc.). p.) Of course, you don’t have time to have breakfast, because. you don't even have time to sleep. You half-asleep come to the studio, where they tell you that today you need to shoot a lot of clothes (which all clients say), about 200 looks (that is, you need to change clothes 200 times, pose and fit it all in 9 hours).

Makeup: I won’t say anything about the fact that in China or Taiwan no one washes their hands, but when a makeup artist falls on the floor with a brush or sponge, she picks it up and continues to paint you, this is already too much! But, unfortunately, this is already a "classic of the genre." No one washes the brushes and with one sponge they paint all the models at the shooting or show.

A model friend told me how, during makeup, a cockroach crawled out of one brush, the makeup artist shook it off to the floor and continued to do makeup with it.

That is, in China, there is absolute unsanitary conditions, which, unfortunately, no one pays attention to: for them, this is the norm.

Sometimes she had 18 hours of filming per day! Only 4 hours left to sleep!

During the shooting, due to the fact that there is no time, you are changed right in front of everyone. In the literal sense, 3-4 people (the stylist and his assistants) fly at you and rip off all your things, you remain in your underwear, right in front of the photographer, male clients, people you see for the first time, and then at you put on the next bow. And so 200 times!!!

You stand in heels all day long! Often these are shoes that crush you, your fingers break, calluses are rubbed, but you are silent and continue to smile: God forbid, clients will complain to your agency!

And so 9 hours in a row with one break for lunch. For lunch, they will bring you some Chinese food, the mere sight of which makes you sick. Therefore, I always tried to take at least an apple with me, because. I never had time to cook my own dinner and take it with me.

For lunch, they give you half an hour or even less. And again in battle!

During the shooting, you change your hairstyle 3-4 times: first, they comb your hair like a lioness, then they want you to straighten it, and then wind it on a curling iron. No one uses any protective sprays, of course, no one uses. Actually forget about it. Hairpins are inserted right into your head, and even if you ask the makeup artist to be careful, no one will even think to be more careful - on the contrary, they will also shout at you or call the agency, they say, your model finds fault with the work of a makeup artist!

If you ask to use the toilet, they will stop the process and the time while you were “going about your business” is not protected during filming. Therefore, you won’t waste much time going to the toilet.

If by some incomprehensible miracle you finish shooting before the scheduled time, don’t even dream that they will let you go home, they will bring you more clothes, because. how is it, they hired you for 9 hours, so in their understanding they own you all these 9 hours.

And it’s also good if your shooting is in the studio: it often happens that it is somewhere in nature. And in Asia, they usually shoot winter collections in summer, and summer collections in winter.

Now imagine the 40-degree Chinese heat, and you are standing somewhere in the mountains in a fur coat, in a hat, and they also knit a scarf on top of you! And stop smiling! And there are some malarial mosquitoes flying around!

Working as a model in China is like hell: here girls are waiting for terrible working conditions!

Or +4 heat, coast Pacific Ocean, dog cold, and you are in one silk dress, when everyone around is in down jackets. And no one will even bring you hot tea, because. How can you spend money on it!
Not only that, you will also be asked to climb knee-deep into cold water and pose in the water.

After one such posing in the water, I returned home with a temperature of 38.6 with cystitis. I was taken to the hospital and after the doctor said that I needed to lie down for at least 3 days in bed, the agency said that they could not allow me to do this, they say she has a big shoot tomorrow, inject her with something so that she can do it tomorrow work! And they gave me an injection of the most powerful antibiotic in a vein and the next day with the cough of an 80-year-old man, I was on the set.

I can go on ad infinitum.

The worst thing about it all is that you are so intimidated by the agency that threatens to send you home if you don't work, if you get better, if the clients don't like you, etc. Therefore, you try your best to smile and never admit to anyone in your life how tired you are, and how much you want to sleep, and even more you want to eat, and even more you want to cry, but you can’t, because. To. you really want to help mom and dad with money!!!

It's all terrible!!! In general, if I could erase these memories from my life, I would gladly do it!!! I wouldn't wish this experience on anyone!

This is what Pauline Boyd looks like now. She currently works in Japan.

During the 2 months of my stay in Taiwan, I made 53 shoots. I still do not understand how I physically and mentally withstood it.

And the worst thing is that my mother agency X, seeing that I was very in demand in Taiwan and made money there, decided not to even bother and listen to all my requests that I want to fly and try myself in Japan or in Europe. No, they saw that I earned in Taiwan, which means that they will send me there and only there.

And so I flew to Taiwan three times in a row, until my contract with Agency X ended, and I was able to get out of this vicious circle!!!

I would never advise any aspiring model to fly to work in China or Taiwan. It is literally slave labor. Models are treated like dogs, they are not valued at all, they pay pennies for the amount of work done!

You are treated like a creature without feelings and emotions!

If I were to start my career all over again, I would NEVER go to China or Taiwan!

Health is more valuable than any money!

If we start, then start with Japan! This is the absolute opposite of China!

Unlike China, Japan is a paradise for an aspiring model

In Japan, models are treated like princesses! You get a facial massage before shooting, sometimes even a foot massage!!! They bring you coffee and chocolate. For lunch, whatever you want, just ask! Tired? Sit down, rest. A maximum of 15 bows are shot per shoot! And everything is very easy and fun. If you finished early, then please go home.

In fact, there are many countries where models are treated with respect.

But this is clearly not in China!

In general, returning to Vlada's death, it seems to me that it is necessary to raise the age bar and prohibit agencies from hiring models under 18 years old!

Children should have childhood! My hair stands on end when I meet girls abroad, 12-13 years old, who sometimes work 18 hours a day, as I once did!

It's wrong and it's scary!

And I would not completely blame my parents, they say, how is it, why did they let them go?! Much of the (emphasis on the first syllable) part of the blame here lies with the mother agency that they send all children to countries such as China and Taiwan! It is pointless to fight the Chinese, as they were the most inadequate people, they will remain. But if they stop sending little girls to them, then they will have no one to mock them!

Vlada Dzyuba from Perm went to China on a three-month contract organized by a modeling agency. During the grueling 13-hour show, which took place in Shanghai as part of the Asian Fashion Week, the girl became ill - she had a fever, and just a few minutes before her appearance on the podium, Vlada lost consciousness and never regained consciousness. The girl fell into a coma and died two days later. According to the preliminary results of the autopsy, death occurred as a result of progressive meningitis against the background of "extreme exhaustion of the body."

The tragic incident raised the "sore" issue of the exploitation of teenage and female labor in China. Hundreds of Russian models are sent east every year and enter into so-called "slave" contracts, according to which they are forced to work irregular hours without providing medical insurance.

The Russian Foreign Ministry demanded an explanation from the Chinese side about the living and working conditions of the girl in Shanghai. Officials were also interested in the basis on which the underage Vlada was hired, forcing her to interrupt her studies at a school in her native Perm.

Oksana, the mother of a young model, is heartbroken: “She called me, saying: “Mom, I'm so tired. I want to sleep so much ... ”Most likely, this was the beginning of the disease. Then she developed a fever. I didn’t sleep and kept calling her, begging her to go to the hospital.”

But the girl never asked for medical help due to the lack of an insurance policy. Oksana, who has another small child, was busy applying for a visa that would allow her to stay in Shanghai next to her daughter, but she never managed to find Vlada alive.

Pavel Mikov, Commissioner for Children's Rights in the Perm Territory, took up the investigation into the death of the girl, who promised to take this case under his personal control. The head of the modeling agency in Perm, Elvira Zaitseva, commented on the incident: “No one expected that this would lead to such consequences. Now we are reaping what we have sown." Model manager Dmitry Smirnov, who personally discussed the terms of the contract with the Chinese side, refused to comment on her death.

Since childhood, Vlada wanted to be a model. The girl with a dazzling appearance and a sonorous name was dressed as a princess and a little hooligan. She was afraid of death because she had many plans for a life that. Vlad was brought there with a temperature of about 40. On the eve of hospitalization, she was. The next day, without any break, the girl again went to the podium and felt so bad that she had to call an ambulance.

A couple of years ago, my mother brought Vlad to a Perm modeling agency. 12-year-old girls came here to plunge into the world of show business. Vlad insistently asked for the Chinese podium. Scout Dima, as he calls himself, a certain person from the St. Petersburg modeling business, recruited Vlada through his mother.

As transmits Correspondent Vyacheslav Nemyshev, the scout promised big fees and persuaded him to let the promising girl go to work in China. Moreover, Vlada has already made a path for herself, having worked in Taiwan in the summer. Now she is waiting for the magnificent Shanghai, where the Chinese moneybags of show business will definitely notice the young beauty.

It was not difficult for Vlada to study remotely, she passed the disciplines on her own. A talented girl, of course, but did she and her mother have the patience and knowledge to figure out the Chinese characters in the contract, which was supposed to guarantee not only fees, but at least medical insurance?

Johnny Cheng from Shanghai is the head of the very Chinese agency where the St. Petersburg scout Dima supplied promising models. Johnny claims there should have been insurance. According to him, in China it is allowed to work from the age of 16. It turns out, bring your girls to us at least from the age of 12, and our specialists will choose promising ones.

On the eve of Vlad on Skype, she said that she was literally falling off her feet. Doctors believe that the girl was killed by sepsis, which developed as a result of blood poisoning. The cause could be a meningococcal infection that attacked an exhausted, weakened body.

Julia was lucky she survived on the Chinese podium. According to her, in the Celestial Empire, passports were taken away, and the police were threatened, and visas were forged.

Julia Vecherskaya, model: "Legally, almost no one hires anyone, because even the modeling agencies themselves in China operate illegally undercover, as if they are holding events for guests."

So, after all, sugary smiles of nymphet lovers rule on the Chinese catwalk? Maybe the St. Petersburg scout will answer why the girl from Perm died? Maybe the mother of the unfortunate Vlada wanted to make her dream come true in her daughter, but somehow it turned out wrong? The question of who is to blame for the death of a 14-year-old girl remains open.

Fourteen-year-old Vlada D. from Perm left to conquer the modeling business in Shanghai, and on October 27 she died in one of the Chinese clinics. According to the official version, the cause of death of the girl was a dysfunction of the internal organs, but, according to media reports, she worked in China for 13 hours a day and could die from exhaustion.

RIA Novosti correspondents found out how underage models get to work abroad, who can protect them in a foreign country, and why the modeling business can sometimes kill.

"Our Abroad"

Before the tragedy, Vlada managed to visit China twice. The director of the Great Model modeling studio Elvira Zaitseva, where Vlada worked, says that due to her young age, the girl could not work in Europe, since the rules for underage models are strict there. "But in the East we have our successes," the director specified.

For a while, the director of the studio even shared the achievements of her ward on social networks, and on October 26 she published a photo of Vlada with a request to organize a fundraiser because the girl fell ill. Later, in an interview with a RIA Novosti correspondent, Zaitseva explained that the funds were collected for Vlada's mother, who is on maternity leave, does not have a passport and money to quickly travel abroad.

The director of the studio added that she did not know if the model had insurance - the parents were responsible for this.

"Our brand studio has nothing to do with paperwork. We are engaged in beauty contests, shows, events," Zaitseva said. According to her, parents often take on the role of a producer and look for work for their child, including abroad: "Unfortunately, we have nothing to do with this."

She does not believe that the girl could work 13 hours straight. “This is nonsense. She didn’t have shows either that day or the day before. The day before she had a shoot for the catalog, and no one can answer how long it lasted, except for the Chinese agency,” Zaitseva is sure.

The mother of the deceased girl, Oksana D., claims that the child was absolutely healthy. According to her, she knew about her daughter's illness and called up to her until the last. The woman did not answer the RIA Novosti correspondent about whether her daughter had the necessary medical insurance and whether she really worked on the set.

Sign or run

“There was no harsh and difficult work,” says Vera, a casting colleague of the deceased schoolgirl. “Vlada dreamed of becoming a top model and, as I think, if she was offered additional work, she agreed.”

According to Vera, the Chinese agency that gave work to Vlad did not violate her rights: the young model herself wanted to take as many shoots as possible. However, it is precisely with such a stream of tempting offers from agencies that models often doom themselves to voluntary slavery and, fearing problems with employers, work on the conditions put forward by a Chinese agent. So, another girl-model, Anastasia Sergeeva from Essentuki, recalls with horror her first experience of working in China, when, out of ignorance, she decided to cooperate with one of the black agencies.

“When I arrived in Beijing, they didn’t meet me as we agreed, and I had to travel alone by train to the city of Xinxian. I got into a disgusting car with inhuman conditions. In order to eat and take a shower, the representatives of the agency took me to the office and forced me to sign a contract."

“It became scary in the office: velor sofas, armchairs, carpets, and a poster with the image of half-naked girls was pasted on the wall - I thought that I would never leave there,” says Anastasia.

The model recalls how she was immediately offered to go on the night shift and explained that if she did not work, as the managers of the Chinese agency suggest, then she would not get the $ 800 rate that they had originally agreed to.

“They used us as they wanted: they could give daytime shooting, which really took 12-15 hours, but they included travel time. The filming process itself did not take more than four hours. After an exhausting day, we could be forced to work with consumption, drink with guests in a nightclub or take out champagne in beautiful dresses. According to Chinese agents, this is not work, they think that this is how we relax. And the pay is negligible, "says the girl.

Such a working day, according to Anastasia, usually ended late at night, but already at four in the morning they could come home to the models without warning and say: “Today is shooting, get ready, you have 10 minutes.”

She clarifies that such cases of violation of the rights of models most often occur in small Chinese cities. In megacities, this is much less common: "Many girls come to China, tell their relatives that they work as models, but in fact they dance in clubs or drink with guests. But this is no longer a modeling business."

The reason why so many young girls aspire to China is one: in this country it is easier to create a voluminous portfolio for yourself, after which you can already try your hand at European auditions and make a career.

Dancer Nastya, who also works in China, tells how some models work part-time at night with a risk to health and even life. According to her, the girls themselves run into trouble, wanting to earn more or become popular: “I know a case when she was a girl with liver problems, she drank with Chinese guests. She was told that it would end badly, there would be health problems, but she replied, "I don't care, I want to make more money. She died in China."

In the top model since the age of 14

A representative of the modeling business in China, who wished to remain anonymous, in an interview with RIA Novosti said that a contract with underage girls from Russia in China is concluded through official representatives, the model must have a curator on site who monitors the health and checks the teenager's documents.

At the same time, parents often do not fully understand the specifics of the contact that foreign agencies make with their children, and teenagers themselves, due to their age, cannot fully objectively assess the situation and the proposed working conditions. If the agency works in a black manner, then many hours of work are possible, which adult models can hardly cope with, and the so-called labor slavery, up to the provision of escort services.

"I doubt that the girl knew Chinese well and could understand what was required of her. And not all Chinese know English," the agency's source said.

According to media reports, Vlada had such a curator in China, a certain Dmitry S. He was engaged in photography and producing the work of girls in different countries. However, it was not possible to contact him and find out about his cooperation with Vlada.

"Russian legislation, in fact, does not regulate relations between minors and organizations that use child labor," says Pavel Mikov, Commissioner for Children's Rights in the Perm Territory.

According to him, for children to travel abroad, only a passport, visa, parental consent and medical insurance are needed.

"Responsibility for a teenager who went abroad accompanied by an agent is borne only by his legal representatives - parents or guardians," Mikov notes.

According to the Russian Labor Code, children under the age of 16 can work no more than 24 hours a week. According to Vladimir Starinsky, managing partner of Starinsky, Korchago & Partners, the Russian agency could be held liable up to criminal liability if it did not provide medical insurance to Vlada D.

"The Chinese agency can be involved only if it is proved that the model's working day exceeded the established norms," ​​says Starinsky. According to the lawyer, the parents in this case will not bear responsibility.

The Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee for the Perm Territory has not yet reported whether Russian investigators will conduct an investigation in connection with the death of the girl. Russian consul in Shanghai Andrey Kulikov noted that there is no final diagnosis yet, an autopsy is needed to confirm it by the Chinese side.