Ukraine's bid to join the EU took a new twist today when semi-naked pictures of the country's deputy interior minister in charge of European integration were revealed.

British-educated Anastasia Deeva, 24, was already under fierce attack in Kiev for being too young for the job, and to have been appointed without proper vetting - which her boss dismissed as 'bigotry' and 'ageist'.

Now Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has defended the married minister's topless photographs, claiming critics were 'asexual' or obsessed by moralising.

Tasteful: The naked pictures were found on Anastasia Deeva's social media by Ukrainian journalists investigating allegations she was in a relationship with her boss, something which an Interior Ministry source has denied

He said her pictures were 'private' and taken when she was a student, a time when she also worked as an aide to various Ukrainian MPs.

Despite this, the revealing photos remained on her social media after her appointment as being one of the key figures in the Ukrainian government's aim of integrating with the European Union.

A source in the ministry denied she was in a relationship with her boss after a flurry of social media speculation.

Anastasia Deeva (pictured, right) has been defended by Interior Minister Arsen Avakov (left)

'That she is having an affair with Avakov - it's all nonsense,' said the source.

Ukraine's deputy speaker Irina Gerashchenko said: 'The question is not about the nude photos.

'People can take any pictures they like and the photographs cannot be the basis for any appointment or dismissal.

The pictures of Ms Deeva are a mixture of artistic (left) and jokey (right, with spaghetti dangling from her mouth) but were not removed from social media after her appointment as a minister

'Nor is the question about hypocrisy, which, like sexism, we really should overcome together. The question is about violation of procedures,' added Ms Gerashchenko.

She claimed the deputy minister was appointed 'without any competition' and her official CV contains 'wrong data'.

Journalist Konstantin Stogny wrote: 'I'm terribly sorry...but is this really the next head of the law enforcement agency (Interior Ministry) in Ukraine?

Many politicians in Ukraine feel that Anastasia Deeva (pictured) is not qualified for the role

'I'm not trying to moralize on what is bad or good. I'm just trying to understand the trends.'

She has also faced criticism for her expensive taste in Western clothes brands.

Mr Avakov hit back saying that in Soviet times the position would have been held by a 'real monster - and she is just a girl.'

Mr Avakov has defended her 'high capacity for work and communication skills' and pointed out she was fluent in French and English

She had a 'high capacity for work and communication skills', an excellent Masters degree and was fluent in English and French, he said.

She was facing attack because of her young age, she said but her appointment had been approved by the Cabinet.

'Photo albums, thrown onto the Internet with such an effect, feed low feelings,' he said.

Anastasia Deeva (pictured, left, during a meeting in parliament) had previously lived in Sweden, where she worked on green technology

'Has a student no right to private photos? It is bigotry - or you are incorporeal or asexual, or moralising on her bright clothes and bare lines?'

Deeva spent her childhood attending a school in 'a small town near Manchester', according to her social media.

She said: 'The first time I earned money, when I was 8 years old, was when our Ukrainian delegation in the UK collected money to build a house for street children.'

The images of Ms Deeva (pictured) are believed to date from her student days and are artistic, rather than pornographic

She later switched to study in Kiev doubling up as a political aide to MPs for the party headed by toppled pro-Russian dictator Viktor Yanukovych.

Her first official work was when she was 18 - she became an aid to a deputy.

Her husband, Grogory Deev, 33, co-owner of an advertising agency, has not commented on the images.