Nastya Rybka, who is now in a Thai prison, is asking for protection in exchange for her recordings

Russia’s presidential election is only a week away but the talk in Moscow is not of the big win expected by Vladimir Putin but of the “little fish” and the billionaire.

While the election lacks excitement — Putin is sure to win — the intrigue around one of Russia’s richest men, Oleg Deripaska, the metals mogul and friend of the president, has kept the city riveted.

It has aroused American interest as well: in exchange for US asylum, a young prostitute who calls herself Nastya Rybka — Russian for “little fish” — is offering to dish the dirt on what she says are Donald Trump’s secret dealings with Moscow.

The scandal erupted last month when Alexei Navalny, the anti-corruption campaigner and opposition politician, published a