Playboy playmate becomes Russian MP

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A Playboy playmate has been elected as one of Vladimir Putin’s MPs in the Russian parliament, giving him some cheer after all the recent protests against election fraud by his party. Maria Kozhevnikova, 27, an actress, posed nude for the Russian edition of the magazine two years ago, soon after breaking up with a boyfriend. She featured on the cover and seven revealing pages were devoted to her inside the magazine. “Playboy magazine invites readers to meet Maria and get to know her better,” boasted the title. The daughter of a Soviet ice hockey player, Alexander Kozhevnikov, who was twice an Olympic champion, Maria was a lead singer in a Russian group called Love Stories before taking on film roles.

She is now best known as a star in Univers, a TV sitcom about student life.

Like former spy and glamour icon Anna Chapman, she was a member of the Young Guard of Putin’s political party, United Russia, which is currently facing allegations of vote-rigging after winning a narrow overall majority in parliament this month.

“For me this is an absolutely big event in my life,” she said after being confirmed as the new MP for ice-clad Tomsk in Siberia.

“I’m just an ordinary citizen of the Russian Federation. With the problems I face every day, now I’ll be provided a platform where I can speak up the difficulties and offer solutions.

“I think now the time has come when the young people’s voice is listened to. The future of our country belongs to young people, and we must also be involved. I faced the problems of not being able to find a job after college, or buy an apartment by myself.”

Despite portraying herself as just like any other Russian woman, whispers in Moscow say her family is close to a Putin ally.

And she showed her loyalty to strongman premier Putin – who is now standing for a return to the Kremlin presidency – by criticising those behind the recent protests against him.

She warned of “professional provocateurs” whose mission was to “ignite” the people. “This can lead to a lot of victims among the ordinary people,” she said.

She made it clear she stands for a “strong Russia” under Putin.

The actress-turned-politician originally intended to go into gymnastics, the main career of another United Russia MP Alina Kabaeva, who also posed semi-nude for a Russian magazine. – Daily Mail