Masha “Bucher” Drokova: The Woman Who Appears 1,627 Times in the Epstein Files

Masha Drokova a.k.a Masha Bucher— the former Kremlin youth leader turned Silicon Valley venture capitalist — appears 1,627 times in the Department of Justice’s January 2026 Epstein file release, a frequency exceeding many household names in the convicted sex offender’s network. The documents, spanning May 2017 through June 2019, establish that Drokova served as Jeffrey Epstein’s publicist during his final years, systematically connected him to tech founders and journalists, traveled to meet him in New York and Paris, exchanged intimate messages including discussions of nude photographs just days before his arrest, and publicly credited him with providing the ideas and knowledge that made her venture capital firm possible.

That firm, Day One Ventures, now manages $450 million invested across some of America’s most strategically sensitive technology companies, from quantum computing and nuclear energy to brain-computer interfaces and artificial intelligence security. The money trail reveals a troubling pattern: over 96% of Day One’s capital originates outside the United States, the fund is registered in the Cayman Islands, and leaked documents tie at least one Russian investor to the fund’s early structure. Her path from Putin’s inner circle to Silicon Valley’s commanding heights, with Epstein functioning as the critical bridge, exposes fundamental failures in vetting, due diligence, and accountability within an industry that controls technologies central to national security.

From Kremlin kiss to Sundance documentary

Maria Aleksandrovna Drokova was born October 26, 1989, in Tambov, Russia, daughter of a senior municipal official described as one of the city’s wealthiest figures. At 15 she joined Nashi, the pro-Kremlin youth organization created by Vladimir Putin’s chief political strategist Vladislav Surkov. By 17 she commanded Nashi’s Moscow headquarters and spoke for the movement nationally. By 18 the Russian government awarded her the Medal of the Order for Merit to the Fatherland for information support and active public activity in developing civil society.

In 2009, at a pro-Kremlin youth forum called Seliger, Drokova kissed Putin on the cheek before cameras, a moment that made her a national figure and the subject of a Danish documentary, Putin’s Kiss, which won best cinematography at Sundance in 2012. She later claimed disillusionment with the movement, citing the brutal 2010 attack on investigative journalist Oleg Kashin. She left Nashi and pivoted westward.

Her bridge to the tech world was Serguei Beloussov, now known as Serg Bell, the Russian-born entrepreneur who founded Acronis and Runa Capital. Drokova became VP of Communications at Acronis and Head of Communications at Runa Capital, managing PR across 18 countries and handling media for the Russian Quantum Center in Skolkovo, Russia’s government-backed tech hub. By 2014, Business Insider named her one of the 50 best PR people in tech. She opened her own PR firm, M&A PR Studio, with business partner Anastasia Shvetsova in New York, then began angel investing in 2016 and secured a green card through the EB-1 Einstein visa category in 2017 — sponsored in part by Swiss investor Esther Dyson, who served on the board of the Santa Fe Institute, a recipient of funding from both Epstein and Robert Maxwell.

How a sex offender became her most important client

The DOJ documents establish that Drokova began working as Epstein’s publicist in mid-2017, introducing herself to journalists as his representative. In August 2017, she pitched Science magazine journalist Jeffrey Mervis on interviewing her client, Jeffrey Epstein — a man who had been convicted in 2008 of soliciting prostitution from a minor and was a registered sex offender. The correspondence shows she didn’t merely handle press inquiries. She proposed a comprehensive image rehabilitation strategy: a documentary or feature film about Epstein recommending her own Putin’s Kiss director, Lise Birk Pedersen, establishing a scientific prize bearing his name to rival the Nobel Prize, and creating a foundation ostensibly dedicated to combating sexual harassment for good optics among women.

An introduction email to Epstein, from a redacted sender preserved in DOJ file EFTA02366422, describes Drokova in startling terms: Exceptional young lady. She wants to meet you, get to know you and help me find you a young attractive assistant. Masha says that she needs to know who you are and what kind of assistants you would like. Drokova then put forward multiple women as potential assistants to Epstein.

The relationship deepened quickly. In a 2018 email, Drokova wrote to Epstein: I knew from the first minutes of our meeting that you’d influence my life a lot… I trust you a lot. I love your intellect, sense of humor and charisma but even more I love your big heart, kindness and your sincere care of your friends… For me you are one of the brightest modern philosophers and thinkers and I’m incredibly thankful to be able to learn from you. She appeared to decline a salary from Epstein, saying learning from him was payment enough.

Silicon Valley fixer with a powerful Rolodex

Drokova functioned as what Inc. Magazine described as a kind of Silicon Valley fixer for Epstein, systematically connecting him to tech founders, journalists, and venture capitalists. The documents trace a pattern of deliberate introductions to strategically valuable individuals.

In October 2017, she coordinated a video call between Epstein and Bryan Johnson, founder of Kernel, a company developing brain-computer interfaces for direct neural connection. Alex Klokus, CEO of tech media company Futurism, facilitated the meeting. Johnson later said publicly: After a ten minute video call I immediately called the person who put us in contact and told him that Epstein seemed like a very dark person. I felt sick to my stomach.

In 2018, she connected Epstein with Francis Pedraza, founder of Invisible Technologies, later acquired by Perplexity AI for an undisclosed sum in August 2025 — a company in the Day One Ventures portfolio. She also introduced Epstein to her former employer Beloussov, writing: Connecting you here. You both are one of the most intelligent and fun people I met in my life. Super smart and special. You both share interest in quantum technology.

In August 2018, Drokova, identified as Epstein’s PR person, connected Nellie Bowles — then a New York Times editor and later co-founder of The Free Press with Bari Weiss — to Epstein. After meeting in New York, Bowles and Epstein exchanged messages. How did it go introducing your partner to mom? Epstein wrote. Ahahahaha I missed this and just figured out who you are. It actually went great! Bowles replied. Bowles has said the correspondence was for articles she was writing.

Epstein himself proposed expanding the network further. When Drokova asked him in December 2017 whether he’d heard about coming wave of sanctions against tech companies with R&D in Russia because it could affect some good friends, Epstein offered to introduce her to Peter Thiel, the founder of Palantir — a company providing data analysis software to intelligence agencies and the Department of Defense.

One email captures the operational nature of the arrangement. Epstein told Drokova: Let’s test your list. Get everyone Skype or video contact. I will spend 10 minutes with each, both men and women.

Intimate exchanges and a confession she ignored

The Skype chat logs between Drokova and Epstein, released in DOJ Data Sets 9 and 10, reveal a relationship that went far beyond professional PR work. On June 25, 2019 — just 11 days before Epstein’s arrest on federal sex trafficking charges — Drokova asked if she could show him photos taken in Paris that are beautiful but I can’t show them in social networks. After commenting on the photos, redacted from the release, Epstein asked: nudes? Drokova responded: Next time I’m in Paris! The Moscow Times confirmed that weeks before Epstein’s arrest in 2019, he sent Drokova a text message asking her to send nudes. She replied that she would do so the next time.

Days earlier, on approximately June 19, 2019, they met at Epstein’s Paris mansion at 22 Avenue Foch. Afterward, Epstein wrote: fun seeing you. I think you should meet [redacted] when you are in london she is really a nice person. This meeting occurred 17 days before his arrest.

Perhaps most extraordinary is a December 29, 2018 message in which Epstein told Drokova that her friend Aleszea had described a project researching a really bad guy that gets children for sex sent to his island. He added: She almost fainted when I told her that person is me. There is no indication in the released files that Drokova reported this confession to authorities, distanced herself, or expressed alarm. Their communications continued for another six months.

In another exchange, Drokova sent Epstein videos of herself singing and told him she was recharged from not doing any substances for a while. Epstein also ordered her a black Prada handbag worth over $1,000.

A fund built on Epstein’s ideas

Drokova founded Day One Ventures in January 2018 — shortly after beginning her work for Epstein. Her own words in the released files draw a direct line between the two. In a 2019 message, she wrote to Epstein: Been thinking about all good things you taught me. I would never create my fund without the ideas and knowledge you shared with me and I do much love my work. Thank you for being such a great friend Jeffrey!

The firm, based in San Francisco, combines early-stage venture capital investment with integrated PR and communications support for portfolio companies. Its growth has been remarkable: Fund I raised $20 million, Fund II raised approximately $50 million in 2020, and Fund III closed at $150 million in June 2024, bringing total assets under management to over $450 million.

Day One’s portfolio includes some of the most strategically significant companies in American technology: World, Sam Altman’s iris-scanning identity venture, DuckDuckGo, Superhuman, Remote, Rainmaker for cloud-seeding technology, CalypsoAI for AI security, Valar Atomics for nuclear, Merge Labs, Sam Altman’s brain tech startup, and QuEra for quantum computing. The firm claims 12 unicorns in its portfolio and co-invests alongside Founders Fund, Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, and Y Combinator.

The fund’s investor base has drawn scrutiny. Over 96% of Day One’s capital reportedly comes from outside the United States, and the entity is registered in the Cayman Islands. The Washington Post reported in December 2022 that Drokova’s pitches to investors boasted of her connections to Russian oligarchs. Leaked Cypriot accounting documents obtained by Byline Times show at least one Russian investor — Sergey Dashkov, through Joint Journey Ltd — held approximately 1% of Fund I/II as of late 2020.

Day One was also reportedly financed by Drokova’s former employer, Serg Bell. In late 2025, the Office of the U.S. Director of National Intelligence banned Bell’s former company, Acronis, from intelligence contracts and subcontracts. Bell renounced his Russian citizenship in 2001 and is a Singapore citizen, which does not permit dual citizenship. Drokova worked at Acronis for less than a year before leaving in early 2014.

The Maxwell connection and overlapping networks

Drokova’s connections to Epstein’s inner circle extend beyond Epstein himself. She is listed as an advisor to Ghislaine Maxwell’s TerraMar Project, the ocean conservation nonprofit that dissolved shortly after Epstein’s arrest and Maxwell’s subsequent indictment.

In 2016, Drokova co-founded a webinar series called WE Talks with Lana Pozhidaeva, who served as Epstein’s assistant and was described in documents as his then-girlfriend. Epstein’s own lawyer, Darren Indyke, filed the trademark paperwork for WE Talks. Pozhidaeva’s New York charity, Education Advance, received $55,000 from Epstein in 2017. Drokova’s sister, Victoria Drokova, co-managed WE Talks with Pozhidaeva and later worked at the Longevity Vision Fund. Contact details and registration addresses for these entities overlapped with Epstein’s foundations.

In a December 2017 email, DOJ file EFTA00935664, Drokova outlined to Epstein what she called criteria to find smart people based on DNA test results measuring Jewish ancestry percentages — proposing a recruitment strategy using 23andMe tests to filter for individuals who were 98% Jewish. She wrote: The more Jew you are the smarter you. You said you’re ~98% Jew. You’re very smart. My ex boss is 78% Jew. He is super smart, less smart than you are. She later backtracked in a reply to her own email: maybe too much… lots of smart people are other nationalities.

FBI investigation and intelligence concerns

An April 2025 FBI memo released as part of the DOJ’s Epstein disclosure identifies Drokova as a subject of active federal investigation. Prepared by the Washington Field Office as part of Operation Trip Knot — a squad targeting organized crime in the Eastern Hemisphere, including Russia — the memo describes her as the former publicist for Jeffrey Epstein who currently resides in Switzerland.

The memo connects her to broader intelligence concerns. It identifies her as a publicist for QWave Capital headed by Beloussov, DFJ Financial run by Tim Draper’s firm, and Runa Capital. An unnamed FBI source alleged connections between Drokova and Vladimir Putin. The memo describes an alleged Epstein-style blackmail operation involving a figure named Frank Creer and the Sanctum sex club, drawing parallels to how Epstein previously funneled money into a research lab at MIT, which he used as a means for gaining access to politicians and decision-makers.

Important caveat: Tim Draper categorically denied the FBI memo’s allegations, saying: Whoever did this made it up, and I want to know who and why. Frank Creer also denied the allegations. The memo was based on a single confidential human source, and its core claims have not been independently verified by mainstream outlets. Separately, in a 2020 FBI report based on a confidential source, Drokova reportedly referred to Epstein as a wonderful person being treated unfairly.

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced in February 2026 that his government would investigate Epstein’s possible ties to Russian intelligence, citing the document release. More and more leads, more and more information… all relate to the suspicion that this unprecedented pedophilia scandal was co-organized by Russian intelligence services, Tusk stated.

A pattern of denial and silence

Drokova’s public statements about Epstein have been minimal and contradictory. In 2021, she told journalist Seth Hettena — the first reporter to publicly connect her to Epstein — that she had met Epstein once and done unpaid work as a favor without knowing his past. I quickly find out I shouldn’t be connected with this person, she said.

The released documents flatly contradict this account. They show two years of continuous, intimate communication from May 2017 through June 2019, in-person meetings in New York and Paris, a close personal relationship characterized by philosophical discussions, gift exchanges, and sexual innuendo, and her own explicit acknowledgment that Epstein’s mentorship was foundational to her career.

Since the DOJ’s January 30, 2026, release, Drokova — who married Romeo Bucher on February 16, 2022, and now goes by Masha Bucher — has not responded to requests for comment from CNN, the Washington Post, the San Francisco Standard, Inc. Magazine, or The Information. She obtained Kyrgyz citizenship on December 31, 2022, reportedly after distancing herself from Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, and the FBI memo places her current residence in Switzerland.

The San Francisco Standard reported that her involvement with Epstein, which had not been widely known in Silicon Valley, has sparked outrage among founders, with multiple portfolio companies reportedly seeking to remove her from their cap tables.

Conclusion

The released files establish certain facts beyond reasonable dispute. Drokova served as Epstein’s publicist for at least two years. She maintained an intimate personal relationship with him. She actively connected him to strategically valuable tech founders, journalists, and investors. She helped recruit potential assistants for him. She was told directly by Epstein about his predatory conduct toward children and continued the relationship. She credited him with making her fund possible. She was listed as an advisor to Ghislaine Maxwell’s TerraMar Project and co-founded a venture with Epstein’s assistant using his lawyer’s legal services.

What remains contested or unverified includes whether Drokova acted as a Russian intelligence asset, whether Day One Ventures was designed to channel Russian capital into strategic American technology, and whether her relationship with Epstein involved anything beyond PR, mentorship, and personal friendship. No Epstein victim has publicly alleged wrongdoing by Drokova. No criminal charges have been filed against her. The more sensational claims — that she is an FSB agent, that Day One was established to steal U.S. technology — originate from a single FBI confidential source and niche publications, not from verified intelligence assessments or established reporting.

What is not contested is the sheer volume of the record: 1,627 mentions across more than 3 million pages, two years of emails and Skype logs, introductions to some of the most powerful people in technology, and a venture capital empire that she herself said would not exist without Epstein. The documents don’t require speculation to raise accountability questions. They require answers that Masha Bucher has so far declined to provide.

Note: This article has been updated to reflect accurate information, based on input from Katya Turtseva, VP of Communications at Acronis.