Russian Policewoman

[DBAHO]

RUSSIAN policewomen bared their legs, navels and a bit of cleavage today as they competed to become Moscow's first "Miss Security".

 

 

The informal contest, staged mostly to liven up a security trade show in Moscow, was a dream to those whose fantasies favour attractive women who wear bright lipstick, high heels and can handle a handgun blindfolded.

 

The 17 contestants represented the fairer sex of the Russian interior ministry, which churns out most of the police force in the country, and entered, in the words of one "to prove our mettle".

 

Their professions ranged from a secretary to a trainer preparing soldiers for the interior ministry's special forces and a former aspiring model who has since become a communications specialist because "communication is the main force driving forward our civilisation".

 

Atop a lit stage, to the beat of pop music and clad in the country's police uniforms for women - miniskirts, jackets, ties and high heels - Russia's finest displayed their talents in front of a crowd several hundred strong.

 

Yelena Vasilkova, mother of two young daughters, took apart and reassembled a Makarov handgun - blindfolded - in 12 seconds.

 

Two young women shook their hips and toned, exposed navels to the thumps of a Middle Eastern tune and cat calls from the audience.

 

Several contestants showed off their shooting skills with laser guns - legs spread, miniskirts tight, hands steady.

 

And Olga Solovyeva demonstrated what to do when a woman encounters two drunks up to no good by flipping two of her male colleagues through the air to deafening cheers from the women in the audience.

 

"If these women are in charge of us, I will not worry about our country," said a smiling jury member, the Russian magician Amayak Akopyan.

 

The contestants were following in the footsteps of Oxana Feydorova, a police officer in Russia's second city of Saint Petersburg who won the Miss Universe title in 2002.

 

She was later stripped of the title for failing to fulfil the obligations that went with it.

 

In the end, Solovyeva, a sturdy 31-year-old who trains special forces soldiers and whom "guys always thought of as one of them since childhood," won the title and the washing machine that went with it.

 

The choice of Solovyeva over the long-legged waif-like creatures who are usually considered the ideal beautiful women in Russia surprised many in the audience, including her mother.

 

"Olenka!" she cried climbing onto the stage and fighting through the reporters who surrounded her daughter. "I never expected this!"

 

"She is the best, of course," she explained. "But I never expected it."