About Liliana Gasinskaya
Born 1960. Liliana Gasinskaya is a Russian and Australian model, actor and dancer.
Liliana Leonidovna Gasinskaya (; , Liliana Leonidivna Hasynska, born July 21, 1960) is a woman who defected from the Soviet Union in 1979. On board a Soviet cruise ship, SS Leonid Sobinov (Black Sea Shipping Company), in Sydney Harbour, Gasinskaya slipped out of a porthole wearing only a red bikini (earning her the nickname "The Girl in the Red Bikini").
She was born in 1960 in Alchevsk in Luhansk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR to a musician father and actress mother, but later moved to Odesa. When Gasinskaya was 14, she decided to attempt to leave the USSR and thus graduated from the Odesa Marine Tourism Service Vocational School with the qualification of a ship waitress. She was then assigned to work at the Black Sea Shipping Company. She became a cleaner on the Leonid Sobinov.
After swimming ashore in the evening of January 14, 1979, she was sheltered by Bill Green, a photographer at Sydney University. Gasinskaya was later nearly apprehended by staff from the Soviet embassy, but managed to hide from them with the help of journalists from The Daily Mirror, which subsequently interviewed her.
She later earned $15,000 as the first nude centerfold in Australia's edition of Penthouse magazine.
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Important facts
People in Liliana Gasinskaya's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Liliana Gasinskaya's
Frequently asked questions
Who is Liliana Gasinskaya?
Soviet defector
When was Liliana Gasinskaya born?
Liliana Gasinskaya was born on 21 July 1960 in Alchevsk.
What is Liliana Gasinskaya's occupation?
Liliana Gasinskaya is a model, actor and dancer.
What nationality is Liliana Gasinskaya?
Liliana Gasinskaya is Russian and Australian.
Sources & further reading
· Wikipedia: Liliana Gasinskaya
· DBpedia: Liliana Gasinskaya
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Liliana Gasinskaya. https://biography.guide/liliana-gasinskaya/
MLA: "Liliana Gasinskaya." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/liliana-gasinskaya/.
Chicago: "Liliana Gasinskaya." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/liliana-gasinskaya/.
Data last updated: 2026-09-22 · Spot an error? Report a correction.
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