Руки вверх
Dasha Astafieva (full name — Daria Viktorivna Astafieva; born August 4, 1985, Ordzhonikidze, Dnipropetrovsk Region, Ukrainian SSR; now the city of Pokrov, Ukraine) is a Ukrainian singer, actress, model, television presenter and cultural figure. She gained widespread recognition in the second half of the 2000s through her participation in the Ukrainian «Фабрика звёзд», her modeling career and the group NikitA, one of the most prominent Ukrainian pop groups of its era.
In Astafieva’s modeling career, her collaboration with Playboy played a key role: in 2007, she received the title of Playmate of the Year of Ukrainian Playboy, and in January 2009 she became Playmate of the Month of American Playboy and was selected as the anniversary model for the magazine’s 55th anniversary. In music, she remained a central member of NikitA for nearly a decade before beginning a solo career. After the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Astafieva stepped away from regular performances, became involved in volunteer work and focused on the cultural and educational project UnderBooks.
Childhood and education
Daria Astafieva was born on August 4, 1985, in the city of Ordzhonikidze in Dnipropetrovsk Region, which has been called Pokrov since 2016.
From childhood, she was interested in drawing, dancing and performing arts. After finishing school, Astafieva enrolled in the directing department of the Dnipropetrovsk College of Culture. During her studies, she became especially interested in vocal classes and also took additional singing lessons.
After completing her education, Astafieva moved to Kyiv, where she began developing professionally in several directions at once — as a model, singer and participant in television projects.
Beginning of her modeling career
Astafieva began working professionally as a model in the first half of the 2000s. A significant stage of her career was connected with the Ukrainian edition of Playboy.
In 2006, she received the title of Playmate of the Month in the Ukrainian edition of the magazine, and in 2007 she was named Playmate of the Year.
Astafieva’s photo shoots attracted the attention of Playboy’s international publishing team. In 2008, she traveled to the United States and took part in the selection of a model for a special issue celebrating the magazine’s 55th anniversary.
American Playboy
In January 2009, Dasha Astafieva appeared in the American edition of Playboy as Playmate of the Month and received the status of 55th Anniversary Playmate.
The selection of the anniversary model was featured in the American reality show The Girls Next Door. During her stay in the United States, Astafieva also lived at the Playboy Mansion and participated in events connected with the magazine’s anniversary.
She was repeatedly photographed together with Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, although widespread descriptions such as “Hefner’s personal muse” are more characteristic of celebrity media than an official status. Her confirmed achievement remains her selection as the anniversary Playmate of American Playboy.
«Фабрика звёзд»
Alongside her modeling career, Astafieva continued developing her vocal skills.
In 2007, she became a participant in the first season of the Ukrainian «Фабрика звёзд» on Novyi Kanal. The project’s music producer was Yuri Nikitin, whom Astafieva had already known before the show began.
She did not win the competition, but her participation significantly expanded her television audience and became the immediate step preceding the creation of NikitA.
NikitA
In 2008, producer Yuri Nikitin created the group NikitA. The original lineup was a duo consisting of Dasha Astafieva and Yulia Kavtaradze.
The group worked in the field of dance-oriented pop music, combining electronic arrangements with a deliberately provocative visual aesthetic. The group’s image was conceived as a unified combination of music, fashion, photography and music videos.
The first major single was «Машина». It was followed by «Зайчик», «Солдат» and «Верёвки».
«Машина» and «Верёвки»
In March 2009, NikitA released its debut album «Машина».
The most discussed work of that period was the music video «Верёвки». Its provocative staging made it one of the most recognizable Ukrainian music videos of the late 2000s and definitively established the overtly sensual aesthetic of early NikitA.
In 2011, the video received a RU.TV award in a category dedicated to the sexiest music video.
At the same time, the group’s musical catalog was not limited to provocative video works. Its early repertoire combined electronic pop, dance-pop and melodic compositions, while Astafieva’s voice gradually became the group’s primary vocal signature.
Changes in the NikitA lineup
The original duo of Astafieva and Kavtaradze existed until the beginning of the 2010s. After Yulia’s departure, the lineup began to change.
Anastasia Kumeiko joined the group, followed later by Yulia Brichkovskaya. Despite all lineup changes, Astafieva remained a constant member and the project’s main public face.
During this period, the songs «Искусаю», «20:12», «Авокадо», «Синее платье», «Игра», «Химия» and «Хозяин» were released.
«Хозяин»
In 2014, NikitA released its second studio album «Хозяин».
The album continued the group’s electronic pop sound, although by this point its musical and visual style had become noticeably more diverse compared with the debut period.
This era is associated with «Авокадо», «Синее платье», «Игра», «Химия» and the title track «Хозяин».
In the middle of the decade, the singles «Водопадом» and «Вдыхай» were also released.
Transition to a solo career
Astafieva’s first independent musical experiments appeared even before her official departure from NikitA.
In 2015, she presented the solo song «Управляй мной». Its visual and musical image differed noticeably from the group’s aesthetic: instead of deliberate provocation, the emphasis was placed on a more dramatic and intimate presentation.
At the same time, Astafieva remained a member of NikitA.
At the beginning of 2017, «Несмелая» was released — one of the last notable works of the NikitA period featuring her.
Departure from NikitA
In 2017, Astafieva officially ended her long-term collaboration with the group and Yuri Nikitin’s production team, focusing on solo work.
One of the first songs of the new stage was «Свадьба», released in the spring of 2017.
Later, Astafieva confirmed that she had purchased the rights to perform part of the NikitA repertoire. This allowed her to continue performing songs associated with the group independently of the former production project.
Main songs from the NikitA period
Among the best-known songs by the group featuring Dasha Astafieva are:
- «Машина»;
- «Зайчик»;
- «Солдат»;
- «Верёвки»;
- «Королева»;
- «Искусаю»;
- «20:12»;
- «Авокадо»;
- «Синее платье»;
- «Игра»;
- «Химия»;
- «Хозяин»;
- «Вдыхай»;
- «Несмелая».
Film
Alongside her music career, Astafieva began acting in films.
In 2011, she appeared in the film anthology «Влюблённые в Киев», playing Lilya in the segment «Ведьма» directed by Artem Semakin.
Her later filmography consisted mainly of comedies and entertainment-oriented projects. Among them were «Остров везения» and other feature films.
In 2019, Astafieva played one of the central roles in the Ukrainian comedy «Продюсер».
Film remained an additional direction of her career alongside music, television and modeling.
Television
Astafieva also worked as a television presenter. Over the years, she appeared in entertainment programs on Ukrainian television channels, hosted television segments and participated in music shows.
One of her notable television projects was «Зірка+Зірка» on the «1+1» channel, where her partner was actor and television presenter Igor Vernik.
Television played a significant role in shaping Astafieva’s public image beginning with «Фабрика звёзд» and subsequently remained one of her regular areas of activity.
Full-scale war and volunteer work
After the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Astafieva’s priorities changed significantly.
She remained in Ukraine and became involved in volunteer work. During the first months of the war, Astafieva helped in a kitchen preparing food for military personnel and others in need, participated in fundraising efforts and supported projects connected with Ukrainian servicemen, elderly people and animals.
During this period, she largely abandoned her previous stage image and stopped viewing her music career as the main direction of her activity.
Pause in her music career
The full-scale war also became a dividing line in Astafieva’s musical activity.
She stopped performing regularly and later said that she did not feel a desire to return to the stage even when she received concert offers. In 2023, the singer also noted that although she had acquired the rights to NikitA songs, during the war she did not consider it appropriate for herself to return to her previous repertoire.
Music nevertheless remained part of her biography and professional experience, but by the middle of the 2020s other projects had taken center stage.
UnderBooks
One of Astafieva’s main new directions became the cultural project UnderBooks.
She began working on it with a team after the start of the full-scale war. The idea was to create a modern platform capable of introducing a broad audience to Ukrainian literature through electronic and audio formats.
On August 2, 2023, the UnderBooks mobile service was officially launched.
Its library included works by Ukrainian classics and contemporary authors, as well as books about Ukrainian history and culture. Professional narrators, actors and musicians were invited to record audio versions.
Astafieva herself also narrates works and participates in selecting literature and developing the project.
Within the first hours after launch, UnderBooks reached first place in the «Books» category of the Ukrainian App Store by number of downloads.
Ukrainian literature and cultural activity
Work on UnderBooks gradually became an independent professional direction for Astafieva.
In interviews, she connected the creation of the project with her own rethinking of Ukrainian culture and her Russian-speaking past. The team devotes considerable attention to classical literature, authors of the Executed Renaissance, contemporary prose, Ukrainian history and works that previously lacked high-quality audio versions.
Within UnderBooks, Astafieva acts not only as the public face of the project. She participates in book recordings, works with authors and narrators, promotes reading and helps create special cultural collaborations.
The project continued to develop after its initial launch and became the main sphere of her public activity in 2024–2026.
Other projects after 2022
In addition to UnderBooks, Astafieva worked on original internet formats.
One of them was the culinary YouTube show «Такі страви», built around cooking and conversations with invited guests.
She also participated in projects connected with Ukrainian brands, charity, the promotion of reading and cultural initiatives.
Personal life
Astafieva prefers not to disclose the name of her current partner and does not make relationships a permanent theme of her public image.
In 2025, she said that the couple had been together for more than three years. They met at a gym and later began working together on UnderBooks.
Astafieva noted that it is fundamentally important to her how her partner treats her outside the former images of a NikitA star or Playboy model.
As of the end of 2025, the couple had not officially registered a marriage. Astafieva herself linked her reluctance to hold a wedding primarily to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Playboy in Astafieva’s biography
The modeling period occupies an important place in Dasha Astafieva’s biography, although her American title is often described inaccurately.
In Ukraine, she was indeed Playmate of the Year 2007. In American Playboy, Astafieva received a different status: Playmate of the Month for January 2009 and the special title 55th Anniversary Playmate.
She was not the American Playmate of the Year. The anniversary status was a separate editorial selection for Playboy’s 55th anniversary.
Her appearance in the American magazine, participation in The Girls Next Door and Playboy Mansion events made Astafieva one of the most prominent Ukrainian models of her generation on the international media scene.
Musical style
During the NikitA period, Astafieva’s music developed mainly in the directions of pop, dance-pop and electronic pop music.
The group was characterized by:
- electronic dance arrangements;
- prominent bass lines;
- melodic pop choruses;
- Astafieva’s recognizable low vocal timbre;
- an emphasis on the visual component;
- a combination of stage provocation and traditional pop songwriting.
Her solo work allowed the singer to turn toward more intimate material and make vocal interpretation more important than the collective stage image.
NikitA discography featuring Dasha Astafieva
Studio albums
- «Машина» — 2009;
- «Хозяин» — 2014.
Selected singles
- «Машина»;
- «Зайчик»;
- «Солдат»;
- «Верёвки»;
- «Королева»;
- «Искусаю»;
- «20:12»;
- «Авокадо»;
- «Синее платье»;
- «Игра»;
- «Химия»;
- «Хозяин»;
- «Водопадом»;
- «Вдыхай»;
- «Несмелая».
Solo songs
Among Astafieva’s notable independent works are:
- «Управляй мной» — 2015;
- «Свадьба» — 2017.
Dasha Astafieva after the stage
Dasha Astafieva’s career has passed through several fundamentally different stages. In the 2000s, international recognition came through her modeling work, while NikitA established her as a singer and one of the most recognizable figures in Ukrainian popular culture. Later, music was joined by film, television and independent creative projects.
After 2022, the structure of her public activity changed. Regular musical performances gave way to volunteer work and cultural initiatives, while UnderBooks became her main long-term project.
Astafieva’s story in Ukrainian culture is connected with several different environments at once — glossy photography of the 2000s, commercial pop music of the NikitA era, television and film, and later volunteer and educational work during the full-scale war. The transition from a stage persona to work with Ukrainian literature became an independent stage of her biography rather than a continuation of her former music career.
