City Minister Tulip Siddiq faces fresh questions after videos emerged of her with an official delegation at the signing of a billion-dollar arms deal and a nuclear power plant project with Vladimir Putin.
The footage shows Ms Siddiq visiting the Kremlin as part of an entourage led by her aunt Sheikh Hasina Wazed – recently ousted as dictator of Bangladesh – and appears to contradict previous claims that it was a ‘family’ occasion.
It comes nine years after The Mail on Sunday revealed that a smiling Ms Siddiq had been photographed at the 2013 event alongside Putin and her aunt, who was Bangladesh’s prime minister at the time, as well as her mother Rehana and younger sister Azmina.
At the time, Labour insisted that Ms Siddiq – then a parliamentary candidate – had been ‘totally separate from any official delegation but was invited to an event with her family’.
But the videos – which were obtained by the Mail on Sunday from the Bangladeshi media and the archives of the Associated Press news agency – reveal that the ‘family event’ was actually an official ceremony inside the Kremlin.
They show Putin and Hasina sitting at an ornate desk with both the Russian and Bangladeshi flags draped on the wall behind them.
More than a dozen of Putin’s officials, as well as foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, were in attendance. Among those standing in the front row of the Bangladeshi delegation were Ms Siddiq, her sister and the country’s then foreign minister, Dipu Moni.
Both leaders were filmed delivering speeches praising each other’s countries, before signing a £1billion arms deal that included the purchase of Russian Mi-17 transport helicopters, armoured vehicles, infantry weapons and air defence systems.
The controversial Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant deal, which is now being investigated in Bangladesh over claims that Ms Siddiq and members of her family took bribes worth £4billion, was also signed at the ceremony.
The family photo with Putin took place after the signings in the same room.
Meanwhile, a second video has emerged from the three-day Moscow visit showing Hasina receiving a guard of honour as she lays a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Warrior. It also features Ms Siddiq, 41, and Azmina, 34, walking behind their aunt alongside the Bangladeshi delegation.
The Tories have urged Ms Siddiq to come clean about the Moscow visit with her aunt, who by 2013 was accused of leading a regime that killed and ‘disappeared’ political opponents and critics.
Speaking previously about the Moscow visit, Ms Siddiq said: ‘I don’t get to see her [PM Hasina] much and she suggested that me and my sister come to Russia when she was there.
‘We were totally separate from the official delegation and were invited to a family event.
‘I didn’t know Putin was going to be there, but he asked for a picture. It was two seconds, but I can see why people might take it out of context.’
However, questions have been raised as to how Ms Siddiq didn’t know Putin was going to be at a state signing ceremony inside the Kremlin.
A Labour spokesman said: ‘This event was eleven years ago before Tulip was an MP. Tulip only went to Russia to see her aunt and spend time with her family. She had no role at any events she attended beyond being a family member.
‘Tulip, like all of the Labour Government, stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the people of Ukraine in their defence against Putin’s unprovoked, immoral and illegal invasion.’
A Tory Party spokesman said: ‘This raises some serious questions about the circumstances regarding Tulip Siddiq’s so-called family trip to Moscow.
‘Over a decade later, it’s about time Ms Siddiq finally comes clean about her visit and the truth behind this photograph.’