The Daily Mail has launched a new YouTube show investigating claims that Jeffrey Epstein ran a globe-spanning honeytrap operation on behalf of Russian intelligence.

A honeytrap is an espionage technique developed by the Soviet Union in which agents use sex to gain leverage over influential targets including government officials and business leaders.

Following exclusive Daily Mail reporting citing anonymous intelligence sources who alleged the paedophile financier was a Kremlin asset, Covert Connections trawls through nearly three million documents released in the latest tranche of Epstein files seeking further evidence for the claim.

Featuring the expert analysis of chief reporter Sam Greenhill, the show, now available to watch on YouTube, focuses much of its attention on Sergei Belyakov, a senior Russian official and FSB Academy graduate who maintained a years-long relationship with Epstein.

The Daily Mail has launched a new YouTube show investigating claims that Jeffrey Epstein ran a globe-spanning honeytrap operation on behalf of Russian intelligence

A honeytrap is an espionage technique developed by the Soviet Union in which agents use sex to gain leverage over influential targets

Putin’s name appears more than 1,000 times across the latest Department of Justice files

Putin’s name appears more than 1,000 times across the latest Department of Justice files, with emails between Epstein and Belyakov laying bare the financier’s relentless pursuit of a meeting with the Russian president.

‘The files show repeated efforts from Epstein to reach President Putin,’ said Covert Connections presenter Catherine Barnwell.

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‘In 2013, Epstein pressed Thorbjorn Jagland, then Secretary General of the Council of Europe, to arrange a meeting with the Russian leader.

‘Epstein even offered to meet Putin personally in June of that year, claiming he had a solution to Russia’s top economic priority.

‘Other Western figures were drawn in. Japanese entrepreneur Joi Ito told Epstein that Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, was unable to change his schedule to go and meet Putin with him. Whether that meeting ever took place remains unclear.

‘Several encounters appear to have been scheduled and then quietly abandoned.’

It remains unclear whether Epstein ever succeeded in arranging a direct meeting with Putin.

After Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the imposition of Western sanctions, Epstein appears to have focused his efforts on Belyakov as a gateway into increasingly isolated Russian power circles.

Watch the full breakdown of Epstein’s links with Russia by subscribing to the Daily Mail’s Crime Desk YouTube channel

Covert Connections: How Jeffrey Epstein tried to befriend Vladimir Putin

Barnwell explained why Belyakov, then Deputy Minister of Economic Development, proved an ‘ideal bridge’ between Epstein and a Kremlin cut off from Western capital.

She said: ‘Belyakov sat at the nexus of state business and intelligence, with his dual background in FSB training and economic policy making.

‘Department of Justice files show Epstein and Belyakov in repeated direct contact.

‘Emails reveal that former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak contacted Belyakov on Epstein’s behalf in an attempt to arrange a meeting with Putin.

‘There is no evidence that such a meeting occurred, but the attempt is documented.’

Watch the full breakdown of what we know so far on Epstein’s links with Russia by subscribing to the Daily Mail’s Crime Desk YouTube channel.