Ruslana Korshunova, the 20-year-old British Vogue cover girl, who jumped off a New York building in 2008, joined a "dehumanising" cult prior to her death, a new book has revealed.
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In his new book about Russia's post-Soviet oligarchs, Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible, journalist Peter Pomerantsev claims Korshunova and her friend, fellow Russian model Anastasia Drozdova, became members of the elite Rose of the World cult before ending their lives.
The Rose of the World was a group founded in the US in the 1970s but was closed in the 1980s. It still has several branches operating around the world, including Russia. Members pay about $1200 for a three-day course to undergo "dehumanising" treatments. Training sessions reportedly involve coaches asking participants to share their worst experiences and encourage them to take the blame for all the negative aspects of their lives.
During his research for the book, Pomerantsev joined a group where he claims a male leader spoke about Korshunova's death.
"Ruslana was [a] typical victim. Sometimes it's better to commit suicide than not to change," he said.
Korshunova was a member for three months, while Drozdova attended meetings for a year.
Korshunova, who was represented by IMG models – the same agency as Miranda Kerr, Gemma Ward and Karlie Kloss – joined after her short, but successful, career on the international modelling circuit began drying up and her tycoon boyfriend broke up with her. When she died there were no traces of drugs or alcohol in her body and she had no history of mental illness.
Drozdova also jumped to her death from the top of an apartment building in Kiev in 2009, a year after Korshunova, and left a note for her family which said: "Forgive me for everything. Cremate me".
Other members of the cult who spoke to Pomersantsev denied either model's death was caused by suicide.
"Korshunova had what we call a 'rollback'. She felt a little strange. You'd find her wandering round town, unsure what she was doing there. Maybe she'd cry at night. But she couldn't have killed herself. We cured her of any problems she might have. And Drozdova? She was messed up already. We tried to help her, we really tried. But she refused transformation. Blame modelling, maybe drugs, not us."
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