Then Rybka and her associate Alexander Kirillov were released. And that surprise came just after—perhaps because of—a highly damning exposé about Deripaska and the petite, blonde Rybka (real name Anastasia Vashukevich) was posted by Russian opposition democrat Aleksei Navalny.

On Monday, Navalny put up on his website two recordings of telephone conversations that concerned Deripaska and Rybka, who had until today been languishing in a Moscow prison after being arrested along with Kirillov and two others (who were released immediately) at Sheremetyevo Airport on Jan. 17.

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Navalny received the audio tapes a couple of months ago from an anonymous person who said in a note to Navalny that they were from a “silovik” (a member of Putin’s security entourage) “who takes part in this despicable activity, in which Putin himself is interested.” The anonymous donor “wanted people to know the truth.” Deripaska himself, it turns out, learned about the audiotapes and has filed a lawsuit demanding that Russian internet providers block access to them. But that has not stopped the indomitable Navalny.

The first audio recording posted by Navalny is a conversation in English that two Russians, “Tatiana” and “Georgii,” have with a foreign legal expert named “William” about the need to keep Rybka and her group, under arrest in Thailand for illegal business activity, locked up.